


The Circle None Can Break

by Corehealer



Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [11]
Category: Ascian - Fandom, Final Fantasy XIV, Shadowbringers - Fandom
Genre: Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), Amaurotine Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Amaurotines (Final Fantasy XIV), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Creation, Dimension Travel, F/F, F/M, Future, Hope, Hydaelyn and Zodiark Angst, Just So Many Ships, Love Triangles, Lyna and G'raha Reunion, Magical barriers, Matoya and Hades Interaction, Memory Loss, Memory Magic, Multi, Multiship Madness, Other, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Reconciliation, Revelations, Sarcasm, Sexual Tension, The Convocation of Fourteen (Final Fantasy XIV), Time Travel, apology, collective action
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28621368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corehealer/pseuds/Corehealer
Summary: My next installment in my main series, which is also something of a departure from the MSQ as of 5.4. It has themes from the game that will be touched on as they are currently arising within the scope of this work and works to come, such as stuff with Fandaniel and what he's up to. But I am getting closer to the point where I feel comfortable going off the rails and making my own full canon, for Sarah and the characters I want to write and in some cases ship. And in turn, focusing on my own path for the story, while respecting what the game developers and writers are doing.Sarah, Emet-Selch, Luciane, Y'shtola, Urianger and Krile have made their way to the Dravanian Hinterlands and are soon to arrive at Master Matoya's cave, there to try and beseech the old crone for access to the fabled Antitower Sarah once used to contact Hydaelyn, and who now seeks to do so again for the reasons touched on in Light of the Crystal. After a very surprising series of interactions in Matoya's company, several of them are permitted to access the tower, and go to speak with Hydaelyn. Unbeknownst to them, others walk with them on this journey unseen, and they may end up nowhere near where they started at the end of this journey.
Relationships: Amaurotine Characters/Azem (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem & Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem (Final Fantasy XIV)/Original Characters, Azem/Elidibus/Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem/Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy XIV), Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), Elidibus/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Emet-Selch & Y'shtola Rhul, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Original Character(s), G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light, Luciane Corne/Original Final Fantasy XIV Characters, Luciane Corne/Warrior of Light, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light, Y'shtola Rhul/Original Character(s), Y'shtola Rhul/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913674
Kudos: 6





	1. The Crone's Call

_My Mother dear, please, call out to me,_

_In evening’s waning light._

_Tell me please, what it is I should regret more?_

_What I have become? Or what I have not?_

_For I have ceased to see the way the world turns._

_The way it begins, moves and ends, always the same way._

_Day after day; and it has ended for me most of all many times._

_And begun again in the light of your embrace._

***

Morning sun, over the Dravanian Hinterlands. Grassy waves and pine trees, swaying in a lazy breeze, cool with distant winter chill from the Spine, flowing over the corpse of Sharlayan’s first and only attempt at colonization. A place now picked over by adventurers, settlers new and old, and less savory characters.

To this place now came a small group of much more savory characters, from a certain point of view, some of whom recognized this place and, indeed, had even lived here in the past, before its evacuation in the face of the predations of the distant empire one among them had created. His own effort a long calculated turn towards recreating a world from which Sharlayan itself may have conceivably been sprung, ages later, in memory. A speculation of two among them, and a joke among the rest, including the newest of their number, whose heart was fuller than it had ever been, even as she laboured to catch up in both pace with their now excited steps, and with grasping after understanding the reason for their coming.

They were a group growing fonder with time, even as they remained tense, wary of what awaited them at this journey’s end; an unintended one, prompted by the call of their Mother. Her sway still strong among most of them, anyway.

And now they fairly ran to reach the Arkhitekton, down the sloping hills from the forelands, still some ways distant of noble Idyllshire, and their destination in Matoya’s cave.

Running to reach this first stop on the final leg of their journey, to catch some shade and an early lunch, unafraid of any Illuminati who might yet remain in the ruin to trouble them. Running to see who would be first to arrive, for pride, and last to arrive, for the ignominy of having to prepare said lunch for the rest.

First down the hill, as always seemed to be the case, was perhaps the dearest of their number; the anchor of their group, and their collective hopes and dreams.

Sarah Corehealer, the Warrior of Light.

“You all already knew I was going to win! I always do, except when I’m not trying. And who would want that?”

A chuckle not far behind, from her most recent companion on the long road, as she fairly sprinted to reach Sarah’s waiting arms for an embrace and a brief kiss, clipping grass up into the air with each footfall.

Luciane Corne Traihaveur, Archer Guildmaster of Gridania (in emeritus).

“Certainly not I, else how would I improve? Or have a worthy horizon to run after?”

Behind her now came the Sharlayans, variously panting and jogging along, themselves less accustomed to physical exertions of this kind on a regular basis given their varied preferences and love of books first, exercise later. Each now came trickling along, stomping down the hill or, in the case of the last of them, collapsing briefly in a heap to catch his breath once he’d reached the bottom of the hill.

Y’shtola Rhul, Krile Mayer Baldesion, and Urianger Augurelt.

“I knew this would be… an entertaining little exercise… even if I knew we’d end up in a pile on the ground… ahhh.”

“Speak for… yourself! I’d much rather be back caring for you lot… in the infirmary… than do that again! Ugh…”

“I must needs… reluctantly agree… with mine good friend. I… hath not run… quite like that since Mistress Moenbryda… oh… challenged me to a similar race… around the Studium in our youth…”

Behind them, walking in his usual casual fashion whilst shaking his head at this display that was simply exhausting for him to watch, was the ‘loser’ of the little group, though he felt no such sting of loss in this moment, holding back a smile to see the lot of them having a grand old time. He already had his hands ready to whip up a simple picnic that would keep their smiles full.

Had he the intention, he knew, he would have won easily anyway, Sarah’s declaration aside. Or so at least he would say, as now he did.

“ _Were I to even think about running the length of this space as expediently as possible, this meaningless little contest would already have been over before you lot had even managed to see the slope of the hill_.”

A sneering grin, even as his eyes now focused squarely on the hero and her turning smile, and her own biting wit.

“Oh come now Hades, you know better than anyone you’d never debase yourself so, running around like a common mortal, even if you could! You much prefer your portals.”

A chorus of chuckles now from all assembled. He scoffed, but could no longer hide his own soft smile, as he finally finished his approach and came to join them in the shade of the large, circular building.

“ _Moreso this time I am merely limited by my attachment to you, my dear, or more correctly your stone of office. But I will overlook that and concede my place as last to arrive, and presently prepare our meal, at your discretion_?”

All heads nodded in agreement. A snap of the fingers.

Several large wicker baskets and a soft linen blanket upon which to sit. Baskets stuffed full of sandwiches of various kinds, and a free loaf of Archon bread; he had already encountered this particularly ghastly substance in Mor Dhona, but remembering the Archons in his midst and their favoritism towards it, he decided to include it. A little nostalgia, as they sat in the ruins of the selfsame civilization responsible for its creation.

He presently sat down and began to open the first of the baskets, beckoning them to do likewise.

“ _Shall we_?”

Emet-Selch, the Angel of Truth. Her Hades, and her dearest friend.

“Let’s.”

They all sat down, and began to chat contently, complimenting the food and offered lemonade, and forgot the world around them for a while.

***

After a full bell, and no distractions, they rose and continued on their way, now hewing towards the main roads and bypassing Idyllshire via a quick use of Emet’s void portals to make up for the still broken bridges spanning the Thaliak river. They decided it would be best not to disturb the locals, either for his presence or for their own recognition and time wasted in explanations as to their purpose. They wanted to get to the Antitower and Master Matoya before sundown.

Having reached the Answering Quarter, they now followed the road past the Paths of Contemplation, nearest the river, with a wide view of their environs. Idyllshire behind, Alexander before them, and Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum to their collective right side.

They traveled in silence for a time, but with a sight so breathtakingly unique as a time frozen primal bestride the Ewer, it was only a matter of time before one among their number unacquainted with the land or it’s recent history asked an obvious question.

“Sarah, what in the name of the Twelve is that thing?”

Luciane had not read every account of Sarah’s adventures, and Edmont’s account had not included the Illuminati’s utopian perversion, it having only surfaced in the immediate wake of her first journey here. This was thus her first interaction with Alexander’s ‘corpse’.

She turned to answer, but it was Hades who answered first.

“ _A primal, and a rather unique one, for it’s supposed age and purpose. Temporal magics were not unknown in Amaurot, but were never fully understood or easily recreatable or wieldable. Creating a machination of such ability… I suspect it would tempt me even now to use it, but I know now from Sarah what became of its summoners and appropriators_.”

Y’shtola nodded in agreement. “A wise course; time travel is a temptation best left to speculation. Even had we the means to awaken it and use it to return to the time before the Final Days, I doubt any of us would have been able to find a way to reverse that terrible fate, and perhaps may have made things worse by interfering.”

“ _A troubling thought to think on; had the Convocation known what Zodiark and Hydaelyn were capable of, I imagine the temptation to use it would have remained, but we would not have taken it. And without any seeming alternative, the world would have ended in the Sound’s embrace_.”

A moment of silence. To think the world could have ended then and there, and prevented all that came after, for weal or woe.

Luciane pondered all of this, and then asked another seemingly obvious question.

“Sarah, did you not tell me about Emet-Selch and the Ascians’ goals? How they sought to bring back the past through Rejoinings, to recreate the ancient world in the future as it had been?”

She nodded, furrowing her brow a bit at her secretary, as did Emet now.

“And you told me about the Crystal Exarch, G’raha Tia, how he came from that other timeline, where the Eighth Rejoining occurred and the world was plunged into chaos, and how he managed to avert that fate for us by summoning the Scions and you to the First?”

Another nod, and her now tilted head in some contemplation.

“Would it not then be somewhat odd to make these comments about Alexander and time travel to undo poor turns of fate if we’ve only reached this point we have because of his actions and theirs? To manipulate time and fate?”

Another, longer moment of silence as they all processed these thoughts.

Y’shtola herself had spoken about this subject before, years ago with Sarah, Cid and some of the others who had endeavoured to stop Alexander from bleeding the land of aether as all primals do. After learning it’s fuller nature, and learning of Mide’s history with it. Considering now the Guildmaster’s words and the smiling red haired visage of their new Scion companion from the First, she felt ever so slightly embarrassed it hadn’t occurred to her sooner.

“An… interesting insight indeed, Mistress Traihaveur. Having long since concluded the matter of Alexander, I suspect most of us would have never had occasion for it to occur to them, to think about such things in such… terms. We did benefit from time manipulation changing the course of history, after a fashion.”

Sarah now spoke, addressing the group as they continued to walk along the cobbled, cyan walkway.

“Before we come to any conclusions, on that line of thinking, I would have us consider some things. Firstly, that there was no guarantee that matters that occurred in the Exarch’s timeline would have inevitably occurred in ours had things been different. There was similarly no guarantee his efforts, or those of his peers in that other doomed world, would have ended as they did, or borne fruit here as they did. They followed a course of hope, and it was as much by luck and by our own choices that it came to succeed as much as it has, for him and for us.”

She pointed at Alexander.

“The Illuminati assumed they would find a perfect utopian dream in the process of travelling the world in their own little bubble, stripping the land of aether and depriving all others of access to their dream, outrunning doom over and over with time travel. Mide and her love and their companions thought they would find a more utopian vision in creating an open utopia similar to Amaurot, but one which would walk and travel wherever people were. To bring paradise to everyone.”

“In the former case, they didn’t care that they only doomed the world around them in the long run; in the latter case, they didn’t know they would. They only had their beliefs in the end, their hopes and dreams, to convince them. And Alexander eventually rejected both their visions in favour of this fate we now tread. The one it calculated I would guide forward, somehow, some way.”

She pointed at Hades.

“Similarly, the Ascians also dreamed, albeit for far longer and with a much more distant and distinct dream in mind, and through Zodiark’s ever-present influence, remained convinced that their dream could live again, even without any real assurances. Time they could control to a point, but the process of their reclamation of creation they often could not, resulting in long delays and periods of labour, and through the ages even colder hearts grew as time wore on and tempering pushed them ever onwards towards their ever more distant goal.”

“There was no reason to think then or now, through time travel or Rejoinings, that the old world could be reclaimed. Even if the shards all fell back into place, and even if the Thirteenth, a ruined Void from their first experimental attempts at reclamation, was able to be salvaged in full through some means, there was never any guarantee that the world would have been made completely whole, completely as it was. No guarantee the life sold to Zodiark would live again, or any assurance that the new life offered for its return would be honoured and found sufficient to return them. No guarantee that Zodiark would even be able to undo all that had happened, or that Amaurot and the rest would be anything like they had been.”

Hades eyes fell to the ground; these were thoughts that had come to him a few times in the late hours of the past few turns of the sun. Now free of Zodiark, he’d had plenty of time to consider Persephone’s convictions and his own seeming error on this matter with clearer senses, and reflect on his long assumption that it had been the only way. Now once more, he was being given reason to reconsider his life’s long choices, the ones that had left him all alone for so long, until now.

Sarah now pointed at Y’shtola and the Archons.

“Life is full of fates, often strange and rarely understood in full, but also I believe a fair amount of luck and what some might call free will. A world full of no guarantees. The same uncertain impetus that drove Sharlayan to deny Eorzea a chance to learn of it’s wisdom and to abandon this once thriving colony out of fear is as writ large in the actions of every nation and every individual as it is writ into the actions of our distant ancestors, and into those we sometimes call our ‘lessers’, like the goblins.”

“We have all of us made errors we wish we could change, and I think that, ultimately, Y’shtola spoke true when she spoke of Alexander not as a liberator, but as a bringer of slavery to the past. A bringer of suffering, something the primal itself knew all too well and laboured in the end to reject as its nature, preferring to be bound as it is now than be used to destroy in arrogance or ignorance. Similarly, the Ascians came to make many of their own mistakes, born of their own original sin, and their own arrogance towards us, the ‘lesser’ life of imperfect beings they deemed incapable of being stewards of the Star, unworthy of the world.”

She smiled at Hades now.

“At least in this one case, we’ve proven them incorrect, no?”

He smiled back at her, a bit weakly, given the subject matter. And the memory of their now increasingly distant battle. But he’d been gradually coming to accept this fate, this life, this world. And so it became a bit easier to set his mask aside and, for once, be genuine in good company.

“ _I cannot but agree, my dear. You’ve certainly beaten it into me over and over these last few months. And I am grateful for it, even if we yet lack a clearer picture of the alternatives today offers, or what this world may yet end up being. I would rather see it with all of you, than continue as I had been alone_.”

Sarah nodded, and spoke her conclusion.

“So, when I come to look at what G’raha and the Ironworks members of his timeline did for us, and what the people of the First came in turn to do for us, I am reminded of all of this and of the sacrifices of Ardbert and his companions. And of Minfilia. Of the choices they all made, to see this hope through, heedless of time as a force to be used for endless correction. They did not care to know if they would succeed, they only sought to try. They did not care to see what they would make, only to let others choose what to make of it in the end. And that is the hope that now finds itself firmly rooted in my stone, and in our hearts.”

She held the Azem stone up to the light for a moment, shining in the sun, before returning it to her innermost robe pocket.

Another, somewhat longer period of silence, as they thought on her words, Alexander now falling into the background as they came closer to the Quickspill Delta and the caves beyond where Matoya awaited them.

Once they reached the threshold of the water, Urianger spoke.

“T’would be, I suspect, an endless debate among the Forum and the Studium’s finest minds back in the motherland, as to the efficacy of thy position, my friend. But betwixt fate’s many lines, mine eyes could easily perceive a place for thy conception of ‘good fortune’ to find purchase, and from this, a fair amount of selfishness. In the form of imperfect mortal will."

He smiled, lifting his robe slightly to avoid it getting too wet as they walked through the shallow waters.

“For mine own part, I hath ever and always entrusted myself to fate’s wheel, and the hopes and dreams of these people my dear Master Louisoix did love, here in Eorzea. For their good do we Scions labour ever and always, heedless as you say of the future and if we will see the brighter tomorrow we dream of. But we striveth on regardless, and never look back.”

A slight chuckle.

“Barring one recent exception, t’would seem.”

Hades scoffed.

“ _My existence is not entirely bound up in the past, I will have you know. If anything, I have begun again in earnest in Sarah’s presence, and with her boundless optimism at my back, to consider if this world does indeed possess the worth to carry on the world’s legacy and wellbeing that I have long desired to find. And from that searching, I hope to find the future in turn with her, whatever it may be_.”

Krile smiled and playfully patted the hem of his Garlean attire from below.

“Aww, and I would almost think that the big scary Ascian has grown a softer heart, hearing such words!”

His sneering face returned immediately, his preferred mask.

“ _Would you prefer I disabuse you of the notion, Krile_?”

“Perhaps; Sarah isn’t the only one who gets a kick out of you when you decide to play rough.”

He could not but grin at her spirit, something he always enjoyed about Sarah, who was presently focused on keeping her own clothes as dry as possible. A shrug.

“ _My, I had no idea your Studium offered an education in sarcasm. I might have to visit this Sharlayan sometime soon, and see if your own worthiness extends to this simpering realm of scholars who hoard wealth as a dragon might hoard gold_.”

She giggled, as did several of the others, Luciane included even as she scanned the caves ahead to find an entrance amidst the overhanging rocks for their approach that avoided the local fauna.

“Ah, there Sarah. A wooden walkway, just as you said there would be. Seems relatively clear, just some… strange looking frogs walking around.”

“Stray familiars. Keep your arrows close, we might need to deal with them before we reach her cave.”

Conversation now ceased as they quietly crept along the banks and then the wooden path, giving the familiars and other local creatures a wide berth, before coming to a comparatively brighter and greener space full of flowers.

“How lovely!” Luciane rushed up to examine the flowering bushes, which reminded her ever so slightly of the Botanist’s Guild back in Gridania; she sought to see if she recognized any of the plants growing there.

“ _How unassuming_.” Emet-Selch folded his arms, eyes fixed on the rockface glamour covering Matoya’s home, hidden from prying eyes. “ _So this is what passes for disguise in this age. How very disappointing_.”

He waved his hand to one side and the glamour dissipated, revealing a wooden door.

“I imagine she’ll get a kick out of you as well. Master Matoya is someone who could give even your biting wit a run for its money Hades.” Y’shtola was first to reach the door, her hand on the handle.

“ _Is that so? I’ll certainly have to put that notion to the proof presently. Shall we_?”

The group assembled before the door, nodding briefly to one another before opening it and passing inside.

***

“Visitors again so soon? Pah. And I suspect you’ll be wanting a cup of tea now that you’ve trudged all the way out here. Not without appropriate introductions and assistance, certainly.”

Even before they had rounded the corner of the central rock pillar within Matoya’s humble abode, she had already heard their collective footfalls in the echoing nature of that space. Sarah was the first to greet her.

“It is a pleasure to see you again too, Matoya, as always.”

“And a lovely day to you, Warrior of Light. Still in the realm of the living I see, though a bit heavier of spirit than when I last saw you. Well, out with it, who are your friends? I already see Krile and ‘Shtola are with you. Who are the tall ones?”

Urianger bowed, smiling at her.

“Archon Matoya, I must needs say it is an endless honour to finally make your acquaintance. Full glad have I been to partake of your written works on the nature of aetheric sciences, the classical elements and magical force application many a time in my youth in the motherland, and t’was by your own example that I followed dear Master Louisoix to this land, despite his many disagreements with thee-”

“Disagreements? Hah! Disagreements is unbecoming of the exchanges we once had here in this place, in this ‘Sharlayan’ when it still drew breath. When he still drew breath. That man was always the most grating, self-righteous priss when he wanted to be. Head always too much up in the clouds for my taste. So, you’re another one of his? Colour me unimpressed. And stand up straighter in my home!”

Urianger was taken aback, but rapidly nodded and did as he was told. Hades offered a chuckle at this.

“ _Oh, I see they were not lying at all about you. I like you already, Matoya was it? A pleasure indeed_.”

“And who are you? You look old enough to be my grandfather, with one foot in the grave!”

“ _And how right you might be, in different circumstances_.”

He bowed as well, mimicking a bit of his performance from the First when he had introduced himself to Sarah and the Scions for the first time in the Exedra.

“ _Solus zos Galvus of the Garlean Empire, but also known in older eras as Emet-Selch. Ascian_.”

“And? Do you expect me to be impressed by fancy titles? Ascians are not unknown to me and neither are you, Hades.”

A collective gasp. Even Hades was now taken aback, slightly wide eyed by her declaration of familiarity.

“ _I… cannot say I would know why you claim to know me as you do, or how you might come to know my true name. I don’t believe we’ve ever met…_?”

Matoya skipped this comment and their collective shock for a moment to focus now her attentions on the last of their number.

“And you, the girl with the golden continence. Who might you be? Any other fancy titles to offer, hm?”

Luciane stammered, unaccustomed to such revelations and searing attention in quick succession.

“Luciane, M-Master Matoya. Archer’s Guildmaster of Gridania, until relatively r-recently. Ni-nice to meet you?”

“And a pleasure to meet you too girl. Guildmaster of a proper guild is a respectable profession, and a much more respectable title. I can only wonder why you gave it up to hang around with this lot.”

A bit more stunned silence, Luciane struggling to find words and the rest still wrapping their heads around how she knew what his name was.

“I take it you all didn’t come to see me just for tea, as ever, not that I care much for the company anyways. Well, quit gawping and spit it out! I haven’t got all day.”

Sarah shook her head to clear it enough to answer.

“I… we, were wondering if we might make use of the Antitower again.”

“And whatever would you need that old eyesore for?”

“Hydaelyn… asked… well, more like demanded that I come here, to ask you to let me use it. So I can talk to Her. I brought the others here with me today since I was hoping they would be able to come with me this time. So we can all talk to Her together. Since they have eyes to see, now.”

She looked the group over a while, narrowed eyes.

“Well certainly some of them do, though I do doubt very much that ‘Urianger’ as I believe you said your name was, that he could manage the full trip. And some of you others seem of a far darker continence. The golden girl for example, has eyes for Him if I read her right, which is admittedly a surprise even to me. And so do you, for that matter, even more surprisingly.” She pointed at Sarah.

“And you? Well, you might as well be the Thirteenth given form for all the darkness I see in you.” She pointed at Emet now.

“ _Well, perhaps now we can revisit, then, how it is that you can see all this, and how you know my name_?”

“Or perhaps now we can say that we did, and you can all let that mystery rest. I’ll not have you badger an old woman for her secrets, after all. You are in my home, at my pleasure, asking for my help, after all. Would you rather I turned you away?”

A collective shaking of heads.

“Good. And I’ll say again to you especially; do not dare to pry into a woman’s secrets. I know you and your kind well enough to know you’ll try anyway, even if she tries to give you pause. You’ll know me again when I’m good and ready to tell you!”

“ _Surely there is a reason for all of this seeming hostility? I know we Ascians do not have the best of reputations, but I can only assume your apparent familiarity for me has also borne some manner of personal ire towards me_?”

He was already prying, unable to contain his curiosity in surprise. She bit back.

“Fine then, you want to drag secrets out into the light? Let’s try this one for a start; have you told her about what you did the day after you married her?”

“ _W-what_?”

“This one gallivanted off on some manner of ‘sabbatical’ he called it, with some of the rest of the Convocation. And had the audacity to call it a bachelor party. AFTER the wedding!”

Sarah turned to Hades, very confused.

“Is… is that actually true, Hades? Why would you do that?”

“ _I… well, you see, it was meant to be something of a lately prepared surprise, for our honeymoon, and-_ ”

“Oh, I am sure he’d like to try that yarn out on you again girlie, but don’t take everything the so called ‘Angel of Truth’ says as outright honesty. He never lies, aye, seems almost incapable of it, but lies of omission? Evasiveness? His forte. Always has been, as it was with me.”

Hades was starting to become genuinely annoyed.

“ _Who in the bloody blazes are you woman_?”

“I am not surprised you don’t remember me, despite remembering virtually aught else in creation, from the smallest speck of dust to the grandest heights of the heavens above. But I did remember you. Told your peers all about you on the rare occasions they’d come calling for a chance to use the Tower too. Always a bit curious as to their own situations, and the details absent from your briefings after their Ascensions.”

She tapped her finger to her chin for a moment in thought.

“That Emmerololth woman, for example, she was the last. I don’t remember her much, but a very soft spoken type as I recall though. Polite to a fault, like you used to be.” She gestured to Luciane.

“Me?”

“Ariadne, right? You served me tea once. But that’s neither here nor there.”

She resumed her barrage on Emet-Selch.

“You called it a honeymoon, but in reality it was all a means for you to observe her work on your own terms, and try to devise a way to keep her at home and at your side more often, despite her wishes, despite her role, despite the Convocation. And you failed, because your silly little plan backfired and left her steaming at you for months! Oh, I’ll never forget the way she berated you in front of Pashtarot. A sight to bring a tear to my eyes, even now!”

She laughed heartily, to a largely dumbstruck audience.

“All I’ll say on the matter is this, girlie.” She turned back to Sarah.

“You can trust him, and he loves you dearly, but don’t let him take advantage of your good will again. As he probably already has by this point, at least once. He’s as imperfect as the rest of us, at the end of the day, no matter what he may say to the contrary.”

“ _Are you at least going to give us a hint as to how you know all this_?”

Y’shtola concurred. “Indeed, I must side with Emet-Selch on this matter; it is quite a bit beyond belief that you should be privy to such knowledge, Master Matoya. I’ve known you my entire life and never once did you mention any of this to me.”

“And why should I have, hm? It’s personal, privileged, even dangerous knowledge I hold. Lest you wonder, I’m still me after all this time and still as sundered as the rest of you. But I don’t have the temerity to wallow in pity or service to narrowminded fools like those who sit in the Forum, nor so called ‘gods’ like he has. No, I much prefer to learn all I can on my own terms. And that occasionally means referring back to a few journals and a few hard won snippets of wisdom, from over the ages.”

She glanced about the room at her many books.

“And I’ve had a long time to record my selves, so to speak.”

Every mouth in the room was now agape. Speechless. Once again, she broke the silence.

“Sarah dear, I will allow you, and him, and ‘Shtola and Ariadne. You four may pass, and use the Tower. The other two must remain behind here with me, to help me tidy up and prepare tea for your return. I have a small inkling of what She wants, and neither of their presences will avail you in this ‘conversation’ to come.”

Hades tapped his boots on the ground, sifting through his many, many memories of the past and in particular the moments Matoya had made reference to, but he could not for the life of him pinpoint who she might be, or how it was she had seemingly defied all other shards in existence by retaining even this seeming knowledge of the ancient world, or of him and Persephone.

He attempted a final push for more details, even as the others began to sheepishly make their way to the door to the Antitower, and Krile and Urianger made their way to one side to see them off.

“ _I will have a final word, then, with you, ‘Mistress Matoya’_.”

“I was already growing bored of your voice, Hades. And I believe you always had a fondness for saying such things were a cardinal sin. So if you mean to sin in my presence some more, please let it at least be entertaining this time.”

His eyes were like firecrackers at this comment, and it took Sarah’s arms intervening to keep him from marching in her direction, hands balled up in fists. He bit down a bit on his tongue a moment, and then proceeded to say his piece.

“ _I don’t know how it is you know me, or who you claim to be, then or now. And I don’t know how it is you know these things you do, or how you’ve managed to avoid the travails of time and Ascian attentions. But I do know this…_ ”

A sudden smirk on his lips. He finally had a slight inkling of his own as to who this might be.

“ _I do recall you had a fondness for a certain man of my acquaintance. A fondness that, in his own mischievous ways, he was oblivious to, focused on causing trouble for others to keep them ‘on their toes’ and ‘from getting too complacent’. You always liked that about him_.”

He sneered a bit wider now, glancing a bit in Y’shtola’s direction.

“ _Knowing what you seem to, and seeing what you seem to, it then becomes an easy thing to imagine your surprise, when you should come across him again in the form of a young girl, eager to learn, mischievous too in her own ways but completely ignorant as to her heritage, like all the rest. And you chose to raise her and teach her your ways. How very, very curious…_ ”

Y’shtola, knowing now a bit more of her own heritage thanks to Sarah and Hades, now turned with her mouth practically on the floor to regard her longtime mentor and surrogate grandmother, after a fashion.

“Is… is that… is that really true, Toya?”

Matoya’s glare was completely devoid of readable emotion, staring down the Ascian as his grin gradually settled in the silence to a more measured simpering smile, his lids half open over his yellow eyes.

“ _Did I finally strike a nerve_?”

“You wouldn’t know how to do that if it smacked you in the face, Hades. And certainly not in bed, if my memory serves. But I take your point, and will cease my prattling ways, for the nonce. Not that you deserve anything less.”

She finally cracked a wizened smile at him.

“I missed you, my old friend. My finest mistake.”

“ _Nice to see you again too, old hag_.”

“Manners like that are part of the reason Amaurot got swallowed up, ‘Kasan’vo’.”

“Kasan’vo?” This strange word caught Sarah’s tongue immediately.

“Her words for him. Your words, Persephone. Something of a pet name, so to speak. From a dialect long dead, from another city you enjoyed visiting.”

Her heart stirred a little to remember it now, and mouthed it off on her lips as she turned again to see Hades, eyes shut, a single tear down his face.

“ _I… hmm. I may need a moment, hero_.”

“Of… of course, Kasan’vo. My Heart’s Completion.”

At this his face rose instantly to view hers, and her beautiful purple irises. It took everything in him not to fall into her arms again, as it was with her as she presently looked up at him with a wide smile and tears now welling in her own eyes.

“Oh come now, no waterworks in my home, do the sappy pining somewhere else!”

They shook themselves from the moment immediately, now both turning to Matoya in annoyance with glares writ large on their faces for the interruption of fond memories.

“ ** _Can it, Hecate_**.”

Matoya’s grin widened even more.

“Oh, I haven’t heard that name since at least the time when Allag still ruled this world. Forget tea, this moment calls for a special surprise.”

She motioned to one of her poroggo familiars to fetch something from the closet to her left.

“If we’re going to go passing along such things, I may as well give this to you and ‘Shtola. Something she can look at later, when you both have the time.”

A large leatherbound tome, black and weathered with age, a few small creases on it’s spine from use. A lock atop the front cover, with a small key now pressed into ‘Shtola’s hands as Matoya slowly made her way over to the now silent girl, head down, lost in thought. She patted her longtime student on the back.

“Now now, dear Hythlodaeus, best not to think on such things overlong. They’ll make your head spin, and probably hurt I should suspect. Try instead reading this; my accounts over the years of my memories and stories about you, I and Persephone in our younger years. I think you’ll enjoy the trip down memory lane, and perhaps get a bit more… context for all of this.”

She smiled softly at the miqo’te, who now gradually turned her eyes back up to her mentor.

“I’ve always cared a great deal about you, ‘Shtola. And that’s always been true, then and now. Nothing untoward, I can assure you. Just… keeping a promise I made, is all. Not any different from him and them.” Her eyes variously rose to regard Sarah, Emet and Luciane, gathered close and trying to return some measure of composure to themselves despite the rush of memory and emotion she had brought with her revelations.

She clapped her hands together gingerly.

“Now, if there was nothing else, I suspect it would not be ideal to keep dear Mother waiting overlong, hm? Chop chop, heroes.”

Another brief sneer at Emet.

“That means you too, Hades. You’ll have your chance to get wrung out by me anytime you like. But only if you treat her right, and no more ‘sabbaticals’.”

“ _Hmm… no more ‘sabbaticals’. Very well…_ ”

Urianger and Krile variously embraced the lot of them, even Hades, and stepped off to one side with Matoya as the others made their way to the door to the Antitower.

Y’shtola finally found some words for her old friend, before they left.

“I… thank you for remembering all this time, Matoya… Hecate.”

“Think nothing of it, my dear. Just doing what all good friends should. I hope it all helps. Now, off you go.”

A nod, and she turned and was the first to open the door and move inside to the tunnel beyond, cold and damp, her new tome in tow under her arm pressed to her black leather robe.

Sarah passed through next followed by Luciane, the others waving them off with brief well wishes and promises to be there when they returned. Hades was the last to pass through the threshold.

“Oh, and do try not to let the door hit you on the way out, esteemed Emet-Selch. It might throw your back out, even in that aethereal form.”

“ _I’ll be sure not to let that happen, old friend, else how would I return to torment you anew with my storied witticisms and that smile you adore so, hmm_?”

“Your smile is the sort to knock birds out of the sky.”

“ _Better that than to have them poop on my robes again_.”

Matoya smiled at him and waved him off.

“Get going you! Your love is waiting for you.”

“ _Until next time, you insufferable bore. Stay safe_.”

“And you as well.”

He closed the door, and began to jog a bit to catch up to his now lessened group of companions on the long road ahead.


	2. Riding Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now this chapter is a big one, and has a fair amount going on between several characters. Layers of meaning, memory and bitterness, as reflected in their interactions. One may need to re-read a bit here, as an advance suggestion, to let it all sink in. Here too one can find a fuller accounting of Sarah's now five ships, such as they are, varied and centered on her, but somewhat more wary and muted as yet towards one another. What dynamics will come up between them?
> 
> Sarah, Y'shtola, Luciane and Hades make their way deeper into the Antitower, and towards Hydaelyn. Their numbers lessened by two under Matoya's stark judgement, they go to see what the Mother wants with Sarah. In doing so, they find a few new members added to their little party, and a few unpleasant realities laid out before them.

The group said little, as they thought on what had just occurred in Matoya’s presence. With their focus now turned towards gaining entry to the Antitower, they also forgot for a time that conversation, or indeed that they had even ever been in a solid space outside, given it’s strange and shifting nature. All thoughts for new conversation among them thus ceased for a time.

Sarah held her hat close to her head, Luciane held her pack close to her arm, and Y’shtola clung both her arms around her new book from Matoya, a tome she now eagerly wished to read, but had to save until whenever they next found time to rest. Hades, for his part, clung instead to his wounded pride, and was lost in thought on how he’d once again stumbled into someone from his past, this time being someone who had struck much closer to home than even he had expected. Someone he had known, in many intimate ways, once. A very long time ago indeed.

It was quite like her to pull something like this even after all this time, he thought to himself. But to manage to overcome the loss of memory? That must have been a very mean feat indeed. He wondered how much she truly remembered, and how much of him she still cared for, even after all this time.

Eventually, his mind turned to focus on the, from his point of view, rather unremarkable constitution of the Tower’s magicks, wondering why they were so critical to their current mission to go and speak to Hydaelyn. A meeting he was dreading perhaps more than any other of their number.

Some time passed as they made their way across magical platforms, levitating entrances and, eventually, the sometimes bizarre and confusing interior of the tower’s initial chambers, stuffed full of floating furniture and magical constructs atop free floating stone edifices. Given the sheer number of magical creatures here to defend the tower, foremost its margonites and spriggans, some degree of fighting occurred, as Sarah flung her fire, Luciane fired her arrows, and Y’shtola alternated between healing her friends and freezing their targets in place. Each made quick work of the numerous foes that stood before them.

Emet-Selch, for his part, simply walked up to those golems that stood in his way, yawned, and alternated between tapping them lightly causing them to disintegrate, and waving his hand to toss them like ragdolls into the empty spaces around them, to be torn asunder by the chaotic energies present. When a particularly large construct barred their path, he held his hand up to the others for them to wait, and then used a brief swing of one of his true form’s large claws to crush the golem utterly into a pile of flattened rocks.

Though he lacked his vessel of flesh, he yet retained the near sum total of his power, and it showed in ways it had not previously, a reminder for the others, Sarah especially, of what the Unsundered were capable of. This time at least, thankfully, he was on their side now.

Once they had made their way into the structure’s inner chambers, and it’s more ‘normal’ hallways, they gradually managed to settle themselves again, and took a moment to breathe after the exertions of combat. Luciane gazed down the hallway with it’s upturned chandeliers and blinked a few times, exhausted.

“Gods… that was quite the experience indeed. The way he was just making it look so easy, though… we should have just let him deal with all of them to conserve our strength.”

He shrugged.

“ _And what would have been the ‘fun’ for all of you if I had? Don’t you ‘adventuring’ types get satisfaction from being banged up and bloodied all the time? Some adrenaline rush from staring down death_?”

“Ah, even that tends to wear off after a while, I’ve found.” Sarah rotated her shoulders and arms to limber up, before returning Paikea to her back.

“In any case, we’re near our goal if my recollection of this place, brief as it was, is correct.” Y’shtola came to stand next to Luciane, gazing down the hallway at the distant rooms and sharp hallway corners beyond.

“The Lifestream communion room is down that hallway, there.”

“Let’s get going then.”

They began to walk down the halls, taking a moment to silently regard the way they were walking on the ‘roof’ of this space, rather than the floor and stairs above them.

“Why would any sane mind construct such a place as this?” Luciane ran a stray finger over the surface of the nearby walls, inclined at a diagonal angle. Y’shtola answered her.

“The aetheric sea isn’t a place that can be easily researched or ‘touched’ by scholarly hands, and never safely. The tower’s construction in this manner is as much a byproduct of necessity, in inverting elemental balances to touch umbral equilibrium and ‘cut into’ the Lifestream like a needle, as it is designed to be confusing and discouraging, as a deterrence to would be treasure hunters.”

They came to a largely empty room, full of broken mammets and statues, previous guardians left over in still regard of the now distant time when Sarah and several of her adventuring companions had come here to assist her in reaching the chamber they sought now, to commune with Hydaelyn.

“Not that many have tried, given it’s relative lack of treasure and Matoya’s watchful stewardship. This place is much too dangerous to leave unattended, even relative to the rest of the colony’s secrets. Sarah’s been about the only one permitted entry since the exodus.”

“ _Why ever did your Sharlayan think to craft this place, I wonder…_ ”

“I wasn’t privy to all the details, given my youth at the time, but I was given to understand it was all at Master Matoya’s direction, for her aetheric research. That she had it built to exacting specifications, and has watched over it ever since; part of her reason for remaining when everyone else left was to keep this place safe.”

Hades furrowed his brow as they left the room and rounded a corner, approaching now another, similar room, also filled with broken protectors of old.

“ _A strange place indeed. She impresses even more with this achievement, crude as it is in many respects. I suppose one must work with what materials and hands one has on offer…_ ”

They rounded a final corner in short order, and found themselves in the communion chamber, their final destination.

“Here, this is the room. Where She came to me.”

Luciane regarded with some growing sense of horror the limp form of a giant, naked doll in the middle of the room, Calcabrina. The final guardian Sarah and her companions had bested that first time around.

“Why would they make something like… whatever that thing is…?”

“That… I sadly do not have an answer for. We’d be as likely getting an answer for that question from Master Matoya, assuming she was feeling charitable.”

“More likely, it is just intended to scare people, make them think twice about entering, or maybe she just has a twisted streak.” Sarah shrugged.

Luciane grimaced at the doll. “Ugh. I’d say the latter.”

“ _That sounds like her_.”

They looked at Hades for a moment. He shrugged.

“ _I’ll be sure to try and regale you all of tales of ‘her’ when we get a free moment soon. For now…_ ”

He waved his hands, and the giant doll burst into flame, quickly turning to a pile of ashes on the floor. Another wave of his hands, and it was blown away to one side, spread against the walls of the chamber.

“ _So, Sarah… I don’t suppose you know how we are supposed to make use of this room to contact Hydaelyn_?”

“Not a single idea; she came to me in short order not long after I beat that doll, and then afterwards she transported me back to Matoya’s cave. I didn’t have to do anything. Hopefully, it will be as simple this time.”

They waited silently for a few moments in the center of the room, idly milling about, taking in the banners on the walls and the glassy floor, softly glowing blue.

“Hydaelyn? You wanted me to come here. Well, here I am. I brought some friends, if that’s fine.”

Another moment of silence. She frowned.

“Any chance you could tell me what I need to do?”

Another few moments of silence.

“ _Sarah… something in the aether is indeed shifting in this room… but…_ ”

Hades suddenly collapsed, his aethereal form rapidly disintegrating into a cloud of purple particles that was sucked back into her Azem stone in short order.

“Hades?!”

Y’shtola placed a hand to her head.

“This… room seems to be spinning suddenly, in a circle. Why… is it getting brigh-”

She too collapsed, though only falling unconscious, flat on the floor.

Luciane motioned to assist her before also being overcome, both of her hands coming to rest on her head.

“The voice… from when this all start…”

She collapsed next to Y’shtola. Sarah now came to begin to feel a weight upon her eyes and arms and legs, binding her.

And that long gone, but indelible voice. Chiming tones in her ears.

**“Sleep, child.”**

“Wh…”

**“Sleep.”**

She reached an arm out to her companions, before falling in a heap before their prostrate forms.

***

Ariadne opened her eyes, as if she’d just been blinking. She held in her hands a metal tray, which had on it’s surface six teacups, white porcelain and covered in artistic lavender flower patterns. Herbal teas. Hot and fresh, and smelling like a garden blooming in spring. Persephone’s favourite blend, a recipe she’d prepared with Hades years ago.

She walked from the front door of the office to Persephone’s desk, raising her eyes gradually from beneath her white mask to Persephone now, smiling to greet her in her black robe and red mask crested in blades, surrounded by good and familiar company. The Sun, sitting with the sun outside streaming through the windows of her office behind her.

“Just here on the desk is good, Ariadne. Thank you.”

“Of course, Azem.”

After placing the tray down on the desk’s central surface, she sat down at one of the guest chairs, next to a man to her right, in a white robe and a red mask, ornate and possessed of a remarkable beaked nose. He turned to greet her.

“Always a pleasure to see you, Ariadne.”

Elidibus, the Emissary. A man almost the same age as her; old beyond mortal comprehension, but both of them were as young men and women compared to some among the Ancients. Singular among the current Convocation of Fourteen as a man chosen at such an age, and already renowned for his excellent service record in a short time, making Amaurot proud.

She returned the smile, musing for a second that, were she ever to be selected to succeed Azem, it would be an honour to work with him, out in the world outside the city someday.

“ _Wonderful tea as always, as befits my dearest’s favourite mix of herbs. A finer secretary she could not have chosen_.”

Emet-Selch, to her left, a black robe and red mask, oval white lines and a glowering expression. He was already the first to reach for his cup and begin to sip it carefully, so as not to burn his tongue while it remained hot.

“I prefer my teas a bit sweeter, myself, but I’ll gladly partake of anything offered, especially if it comes recommended from my old friend Azem.”

To Emet’s left, the last of their number currently present. A man in a grey robe and a white mask, reminding her ever so slightly of a raven’s face, now reaching to his own cup.

Hythlodaeus, Chief Architect of the Bureau of the Architect.

“Do we have any idea as to when our last companion will arrive for this little meeting?”

Emet-Selch shook his head.

“ _You know him, he’s almost as challenged by punctuality as you are my dear_.”

Azem scoffed at this, smirking at him a bit.

“Oh, do try to give him a bit more credit. He’s often just a bit overwhelmed by this building being what it is, and all the familiar faces in the halls he simply must stop to greet, and ask them how they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t already in hearty conversation with Pashtarot out there, or in his own office, making sure he has all of his notes ready.”

Elidibus chuckled a bit before beginning to sip his tea in earnest.

“Scatterbrained sometimes, but a credit to this storied institution all the same.”

Hythlodaeus nodded, before taking his first sip.

“Ahh… how soothing. I could just down this in one go and then take a nice long nap.”

“ _I could certainly do for a nap myself, after today_.”

“Oh I’m sure you would. Half the time I come to your office to ask you a question, I find you slumped over in your chair or on your desk, asleep.”

“ _What can I say, my dear? You wear me out sometimes. And I wouldn’t have it any other way_.”

They all collectively laughed. Ariadne smiled just a little bit more. She always loved these little moments, when Azem had her friends and fellow Convocation members in her office, either for social calls or some business.

“Truly, I am blessed to have such lovely souls ever in my midst. Whatever did I do to deserve such a collection of bright lights always at my beck and call?”

“I would blame your eyes, and disarming posture. The way you always seem to catch people’s emotions so much more readily than anyone else. Read them like the books you once watched over in the Library.”

She turned to Elidibus, once again taking a sip of his tea.

“Interesting comment from you, Emissary. What makes you say that?”

His face was unreadable, even as he set his cup down with Emet-Selch slightly narrowing his eyes in his direction.

“Having had occasion to witness your energy out on the road, and especially in the other cities while about my own business, I can only attest to how captivated our brothers and sisters in the other cities were with your whole personality, and the way you always had a tale of your adventures close at hand to regale them with. So unlike any other they’ve ever met, or that I’ve ever met, truth be told.”

He shrugged a bit, having been caught out in the open for once.

“Colour me impressed as well; I suppose it’s only to be expected given what I just related.”

She smiled at him.

“It’s always been an honour and a pleasure to work alongside you out there, Elidibus. And I’m glad to call you a friend as well.” She nodded in his direction before being distracted by a sudden knock at her office door.

“Ah, that must be him now. Come in!”

The door opened and closed, and the sound of shuffling feet and the gentle shifting of stacked paper approached from behind Ariadne. She turned to see who it was…

***

Luciane opened her eyes, finding she was the first to awaken in this space. A blue, shimmering sea of lights, with her form now sitting on a plane of blue leylines, ornately arranged in spiking patterns, with circular intervals laid out in sixes. A distant chiming music could be heard in all directions.

She shook her head a bit, disoriented by the sudden vision she had experienced as Ariadne just a moment prior.

“Where… am I?”

Sarah was rousing herself now, not far from her.

“The… the place I’ve been a few times. Where She dwells, amidst the Lifestream, on it’s edge. Where She granted me visions, words of wisdom, and her crystals of Blessing.”

Y’shtola was the first to reach her feet next to them, rubbing her eyes a few times.

“The light… the umbral power here is blinding to my sight. It will take some getting used to. Reminds me of my dimmest recollections of Flow, and its aftermath…”

Luciane and Sarah were now at their feet. Sarah’s first instinct was to reach for her Azem stone and polish it, trying to coax Hades from within.

“Hades? Emet? Are you okay in there?”

The stone remained dormant, without any glimmer of activity within. Panic welled up in her briefly, before she heard a familiar voice carry from all directions.

**“Hear. Feel. Think.”**

Hydaelyn. The Crystal Mother.

They looked around to try and catch sight of Her in any form, but no image of Minfilia or towering blue crystal came to their eyes, only the endless chiming tones of Her song.

“Did you do something to Hades? So help me, if you lured me here just to take him away from me I swear on the Twelve…”

**“Worry not, my child. I hath no intention of doing anything to thee or thy chosen hearts, many as they are. Distressing as they often are.”**

“Then where is he?!”

A moment of silence, followed by a blinding blue light.

**“A gift, for thee. To save thee time spent wasted chasing after vanity when fate lies precariously close to a terrible end.”**

Emet-Selch, in his Garlean form, just as he had been, but looking very confused.

**“He and I hath had a private conversation, about his prior… allegiances.”**

“Did you do anything to him?”

**“Nay, my child. Only provided him with something he hath lost.”**

He approached Sarah; the shock of his return from wherever she had taken him before now being rapidly replaced with a beaming smile.

“ _Take my hand, my dear_.”

She did, and then was as equally shocked and smiling as he was. It was firm and whole, like a solid form. Like a body…

“She… she gave you a body?!?”

“ _T’would seem so. I know not how, or why, probably having to merely steal one of my own cloned creations. But I will not look a gift chocobo in the mouth, to use one of your Eorzean metaphors_.”

She nuzzled happily into his form in a way she had not previously been able to do, as the two of them embraced.

**“I trust this will be a first act of good will, to allay your fears and anger, at mine actions and long silence, my child.”**

“I… it’s a start, yes. But I want to know why you brought me here.”

**“I will answer thy questions, child. But first, I must needs complete thy arrangement of stars.”**

“My… my what?”

**“You have embraced thine long forgotten heritage, just as I had always hoped and feared. In this, then, thy light must needs be given the grace of thine companions on the long road ahead, as has ever been thy way.”**

A singularly high pitched stream of notes, as Her song echoed through the floor of leylines they stood on and thrummed lyrically in their heads.

**“Thy dearest heart once recorded thus: thou art the shepherd to the stars in the dark, and ever will thine brightest lights follow thee, and attend thee always. Their fates inexorably tied to thee. In all the ages of the world, never hath thy lovers promises faltered, then or now. This remains true, even if thy heart hath not always been so.”**

Sarah now stood facing the sky, confused, her face contorting into a mix of emotions, and a rush of memories. Of Hades, Hythlodaeus, Ariadne… and others. Others, who had made promises to her.

To always be there for her, as she would be for them. A mutual devotion.

And she had been absent, at the appointed hour.

She had failed them both.

She looked towards the ground, tears welling up slightly as she struggled to even recall their names or faces, forgotten by time. Hades caught her, and embraced her now, to comfort her. Y’shtola and Luciane approached close behind, looking up now from her to the empty space around them, to address the Mother.

“Surely you would not summon us here merely to grant her gifts, or toy with her emotions. And why now, I wonder, of all times?”

“And when you spoke to me, you told me I should watch over her. That I should pray for the future. That you had no words for me. Yet here we are. Why?”

Another brief increase in the volume of the notes, before they settled again.

**“I will answer thy questions, my wayward children. But first, I must needs complete her arrangement of stars.”**

Silence for a while. They gave Hydaelyn the opportunity to do whatever it was she was doing, while comforting Sarah, who gradually came to compose herself again.

“ _Are you alright my dear_?”

“I… Gods, I don’t know what that was. A blur of images. Faces… I’ve never had so much come all at once before. Not since all of this started.”

“Reminds me of when I started remembering, after that night in the Knight.”

“Or when I started having the visions after your battle with Elidibus.”

“Elidibus.”

She paused.

“Elidibus?”

Another blinding flash of blue light. A hyuran man, in a simple white robe, hood up. He fell to the floor, rolled along it’s course, and then came to rest near to them, unconscious.

The four of them blinked a few times and looked at one another before motioning over to the man. They rolled him face upwards.

“Ar… Ardbert?!?”

Sarah was dumbstruck by the sight of the solid form of Ardbert, her shard. Or, at least, what appeared to be his sharded body. But he was gone, absorbed into Sarah’s soul and consciousness. She placed a hand to her chest and felt him stir, somewhere within her. In this she knew it could not be him.

But then, it must be, it could only be…

“Elidibus.”

She kneeled down and placed a hand to the man’s cheek, and he slowly began to open his eyes. Greyish blue irises, now looking back up at her, groggy from sleep.

“Wh… where am I?” His soft tenor. Like how it had been in her mind, her dreams, of late. She felt a tingle of longing in her heart to hear it again anew.

She rose her head up to the sky.

“Why… how did you bring him here? Bring him back? He was in the Tower-”

**“Thy efforts separated him as much as thee could from His Lord, but he remains the Heart. And tied now in complex weaving to thy shard of the First in memory, child. This man before thee is… somewhat more and less than he was in thy day. But he remains tied to thee, as he remains tied to Him.”**

Hades, who was himself being overcome by a mix of emotions at the implications of this man’s return, came now behind him to hoist him up into a seated position, to attend to him.

**“I gift him to thee now, for he is needed, and as He has no place in my harmony.”**

The man turned, looking at the sky.

**“ _Thy harmony is a lie_.”**

“ _Zodiark…_ ”

**“ _How good of thee to remember me, Angel_.”**

The others gasped.

“You… so he is a conduit for you.”

**“ _Ever and always, ‘my wayward child’_.”**

Sarah frowned and narrowed her eyes at Elidibus, knowing that he was at present acting as a mouthpiece.

“You’ve not said a word to me before this moment, and now you come to me like this in the body of a man I-”

**“ _Made a promise to. And failed to keep. It would not be the first time thy weakness failed to keep a promise. I know his heart, as he is mine. He chose this, and me, to forget thee. And so did I help him to do so, over the ages. Unlike those who were stubborn enough to remember thee_.”**

Sarah removed her hat, placing a hand through her hair to calm her nerves, with Y’shtola placing a hand on her shoulder. Her companions could feel, in their own ways and, in Luciane’s case especially in this moment through their soul bond, that she was struggling with sudden pangs of guilt. That she had indeed let down someone. Perhaps several people. And Elidibus seemed to be one.

Hades turned to Elidibus.

“ _For my sake, if you have any care for me at this point any longer, any remaining love or grace, I would ask you to please release him_.”

A moment of silence.

**“ _I will depart, for the moment. Out of lingering love for thee, my Angel, but also so that we may resume these conversations anon, after thy forms have left Her behind and departed this realm. It taxes mine strength to be here, and I wouldst rather we spoke in the waking world_.”**

The void appeared briefly in Elidibus’ eyes, deepest black.

**“ _But mark me, and thee as well, Azem. We hath much to discuss. And I will have my duty seen out_.”**

Elidibus closed his eyes, and then slumped over to the ground, unconscious again. Hades rushed over to him, to caress his face gently.

“ _I… I am sorry old friend. For this… for everything…_ ”

He bent down low to meet his friend’s chest and wept softly into it, lost in his own guilts and regrets.

Sarah by this point was looking through a hollow, colder gaze at the ground, looking over the sharp blue lines that, in her younger years, had seemed a strange and beautiful sight, heralding her charge. To save the world, and walk in the light of the Crystal. Each time she saw them before, they bestowed a Blessing, and then she had been given more strength to make the world a better place.

To make her will reality. Or was it Her will?

She rose her head to the sky again to address Hydaelyn. No more pretenses.

“What do you want with me?”

**“To complete thy arrangement of stars.”**

“What in the hells does that mean?”

Silence. A sigh.

“Why does this always have to be so godsdamn confusing?”

**“Fate is unkind, child. Even to gods. But it hath ever been thus, even long before the stewards laid claim to this Star.”**

She turned to look at Hades, still weeping on Elidibus’ chest, and then turned to her other two companions, Luciane and Y’shtola. Ariadne and Hythlodaeus. Luciane had motioned towards Hades to console him as much as she could. ‘Shtola now remained at Sarah’s side, a hand on her shoulder, her other hand to her chin, lost in thought.

How had she managed to get to this point? These people… so dear to her. Long suffering on her account. Long separated, and now gathered. Arranged upon the circles below them… save for one.

A final flash of light. A miqo’te man, red hair and tail, in familiar black, gold and red garb, with a blue crystal almost akin to Hydaelyn in miniature atop a new staff on his back. Now it was his turn to fall to the ground and roll along the lines before coming to rest before them.

She did not need a second look at him to know who it was.

“G’raha Tia?!”

She rushed towards him, now looking over his unconscious body, splayed out before her. She rose her head.

“Why did you bring him here?”

**“To complete thy arrangement of stars.”**

“Tell me what that means! Please!”

**“The hour grows late, my child. I hath little more that I can say, and there is much to do. Ask only the questions that burn brightest in your heart. I shalt be honest with thee.”**

“What is so urgent that you cannot speak to me?”

**“Before I may answer this question, I must needs request an indulgence from thee; rouse the two before you, and then we may speak in full.”**

She looked back down at G’raha, who was even now looking up with wide red eyes back at her.

“Ah, the promised adventure, I take it?”

She smiled down at him.

“Something like that, yes… I apologize if you were in the middle of anything, ‘Raha.”

“I was merely retiring for the evening at the Stones… Ahhh… Before She spoke to me and summoned me here. I must admit… I am more used to being the summoner rather than the one brought to bear.” He rose and stretched a bit, using his staff briefly to steady himself before returning it to his back.

She and Y’shtola helped him up, even as Luciane and Hades now began to do the same with the stirring form of the Emissary.

“I… don’t remember where I’ve been. What I’ve been doing… what…”

He turned to face the figures around him, and for a brief moment, saw a collection of Ancients looking back, red and white masks. Somewhat indistinct, save for one.

“Persephone… Azem?! Is that you?”

“Yes, Elidibus, it’s me.”

“You address me with my title. How… unlike you, overly formal. Still so far from yourself I see. A pity.”

“I could say the same.”

They stared at one another, faces unreadable for a moment before Hades broke the tension.

“ _I think she’s more upset that you did not recognize her, during your last meeting_.”

“Not until the very end, but by then…” He fell silent, lost in thought.

“So much has changed… so much has been lost… I had forgotten…”

A few tears, falling to the ground.

“What have we been doing all this time, my friend?”

“ _Nothing particularly worth being proud of, truth be told. But thanks to her stubbornness, I’ve been able to see that now_.”

As if changing clothes, the man now wearing Ardbert’s face shifted masks, resuming something more like the man he had been before not long ago. That he had become.

“More likely she has swayed you from your long course with her honeyed words, as once she did with me.”

Hades face became sad, eyes turning away as he processed these words, as Sarah walked up to Elidibus, arms crossed, scowling.

“So let me guess then; you still want to go through with the same plan. The Ardor?”

“It is the only way.”

“Is that your real opinion, or His, Elidibus?” Y’shtola walked up behind Sarah, glaring at him.

“It is merely the truth, as once believed by our esteemed Emet-Selch, and our other brothers and sisters.”

**“And how quickly conviction falleth away into madness.”**

All assembled now turned to regard the finally present form of the Mother Crystal, large and all encompassing, glowing bright blue above and around them, massive and majestic. Y’shtola had to cover her eyes a bit from the strain of seeing Her aether on display. Hades for his part placed a hand to his face, massaging his temples.

**“Thy friend parrots His words, and knows not the suffering thy kind inflicts, or careth not to know. But now, for thy folly and that of all thine Ascian kin wreathed in shadow, the world has come to its brink once more. One among your number hath betrayed you.”**

Hades stepped forward a bit, hands balled up in fists at his sides.

“ _Who, exactly?! How would they come to defy His will? Our efforts_?”

**“In thine absence, and with the loss of Lahabrea, thy sundered kin now struggle to see through thy misguided path, and waver from His levin call. And one among them has been poisoned far more than most by time’s march and office’s melancholy song. Broken shards pierce his heart and mind, and drive him to terrible deeds. Not in service to the Star, but in service to the Sound.”**

A collective gasp, with Hades and now Elidibus displaying the most amount of shock and anger.

“ _Who has cast aside his role_?”

**“The one thy kin call Fandaniel. Protector. He hath thrown in his lot with the fruit of thy loins, Angel, long distant. A beast in flowing cloak and bearing multivariate blades, once pointed at mine Warrior.”**

“ _Zenos_?”

**“Yes.”**

Hades and Elidibus processed this information for a moment, Hades’ face becoming angry and teeth bared not unlike how he had been before the Capitol door, wreathed in flame. Luciane, G’raha and Y’shtola for their part seemed confused, trying to take in this information so that they could have it hopefully clarified for themselves later. Sarah’s anger also was steadily rising. She turned to the two Ascians.

“So, it would seem your plan wasn’t so tightly controlled as you lead me to believe.”

“ _It’s been thousands of years. I suppose errors were only to be expected. There were a few problems to overcome here and there in the past but… But not like this…_ ”

“We have lost the wheel. It was only in our absence that this lapse was allowed. Her doing…”

Elidibus returned Sarah’s glare, waving a hand at her in dismissal.

“T’would seem your convictions have doomed the Star again, Azem. Well done.”

“You test my patience-”

“Like you constantly tested mine? Even as I heaped praise and understanding on you? Revered you? Respected your sacrifices? I was heartbroken by what you did. When you ABANDONED US!”

“Be SILENT!”

Sarah’s aether and glyph of office flared briefly. The others stepped back a bit at this outburst. Elidibus merely smirked.

“Same fire as always. Even sundered, you are her. I suppose your Mother has merit in this arrangement after all, even with your remaining faults. I do so very hope you’ve had your fill of murdering us in ignorance, even so, though with that look I could be excused for thinking otherwise…”

Silence for a moment, Sarah driving daggers into Elidibus with her eyes. The tension only broken by Hydaelyn’s continued song and speech.

**“All stars attend thee, if not in harmony, then at least in presence to thy remit.”**

Another high pitched tone, ringing around them, the sound of a bell.

**“You are all together now. And a Final Day now dawns for thee, because of his actions.”**

Hades eyes welled up a bit at this thought.

“ _No… Why… why could he possibly want to do this_?”

**“Because time and burden hath destroyed his soul, and remade him as a wound in the weave of creation. He careth only for oblivion, and seeks after it. Thy words will not reach him. Indeed, thy words did not reach him, when last thee spoke.”**

“ _That was… some time ago, indeed_.”

“So, how exactly are we going to save the world? Do you have something in mind, Mother?” Sarah approached a step forward, diverting her ire away from Elidibus now, her emotions a complex swirl in her stomach.

A sad tone, lower than the ones She has been playing previously, now sounded out.

**“My daughter, dearest to mine heart. You hath served me faithfully many a year, and spread my abiding light over all creation. And I hath cherished thee, all the days of thy life. I hath given thee the blessing of their light and presence, and repaired your dearest love of all, to a semblance of his preferred form, as gifts to thee of reconciliation and apology. And these I hath given thee so that I might ask now for thy forgiveness.”**

“Forgiveness? For your silence? For the moment in the Athenaeum?”

**“Nay, for what it is I must do.”**

A moment now of renewed confusion, as they looked at one another.

“What do you mean, ‘what you must do’?”

**“You hath grown to be Azem first, and my child no longer. And thus cannot be entrusted with this task.”**

“Wh… what?”

**“Thy power is a threat to me, child. A threat to my summoners desires, my duty. Thy reach no longer know limits, nor does thy heart share my vision. You hath grown beyond my ability to control, beyond my duty.”**

“Excuse me?!” The others once again looked at one another in confusion, save for Hades, who folded his arms and shook his head. He had expected this outcome, though he had no idea what might come next.

**“They will follow you into consignment.”**

“Wait! Consignment?! Can’t we speak of this?!”

**“The ones who rise to end the chorus of creation will be stopped; I will assure thee. But t’will not be by thy hand. Thy Blessings shalt be passed unto other hands. Thy lights shall be placed in thy home, there to remain in his familiar abode, as thy friends hath all long desired in thy hearts. Pray for us, for thy time is over.”**

Already, Sarah could begin to feel those same familiar lights, and her crystals of Blessing, depart from her into the space around them, though visible only to Y’shtola and Hades.

“But we want to help you stop him, stop them! Why would you cast me aside now of all times if the need is so dire? Are you mad?!”

**“Because thy heart walks with thy rightful enemy. Because thy conviction will be my end. And these things, I cannot allow.”**

Another, longer moment of silence, as the musical tones came now to slowly stop chiming, one by one around them, and the light of Hydaelyn dimmed. A measure of panic now welled up in Sarah’s chest once more.

“Wait, WAIT! You can’t do this! We have to stop them! We’re the only ones who can!”

**“Thy mind assumes much. I forgive thee this belief. We shall find many others to rise up, who will be pliant, as once thy heart was to our light. Duty must ever come first.”**

“HYDAELYN!”

**“I am so sorry, my child. Let go of thy fears. It is time to go, and rest.”**

The light went out, and slowly, the leylines disappeared, leaving only their eyes, collectively glowing in a black void. They found they no longer had the means to speak, only silence coming from their mouths in the emptiness.

**“Sleep now. Go to thy rest. Trust in my light. We will all be saved.”**

A wave of fatigue. They each collapsed to the ground, as the four of them had in the Antitower.

***

“Place the papers just there, Apollo.”

He nodded, brushing back a lock of his red hair from beneath a red mask, blushing a bit to hear her speak his name. He then came to sit down next to Elidibus and pick up the last cup of tea gingerly.

“My sincerest apologies for the wait! I was simply enamoured of the latest creation collaboration that Mitron and Loghrif have on display in their offices, and had to congratulate them for another amazing showing in the Forum.”

Azem smiled and nodded at him.

“It is no trouble, esteemed Deudalaphon.”

Elidibus cleared his throat.

“Well, now that we are all present, I do believe it is time we heard from you, Azem, of this little plan of yours?”

“Quite right, my dear Erebus. It is time. Gather around close, all of you, and you especially Ariadne as this is the first of these meetings you’ve had the pleasure to attend.”

She nodded, setting her tea down and listening attentively.

“I’ve called you all here today to discuss something very important for the future. For our future. Together…”

***

Sarah opened her eyes.

The sound of the ocean outside, to her left and right, twin windows covered in glazed crystal. Cyan lights casting soft shadows all around her.

She felt like she’d been hit in the head with a hammer, and her whole body ached. She struggled at first to right herself upwards from the bed she now found herself laying on. Soft silken sheets, matte black like her robes.

“Ugh… where… where am I now?”

She looked around. An apartment room, a bedroom of some sort. Very familiar… styled like…

“Amau… Amaurot?”

Around her were tables and chairs, and a couch. Arranged for casual use, with a small lantern light on the table flared in artistic decoration alike to how the Ancients preferred everything in their world. On the walls, arched lights also sat, casting their own shadows from golden glows pointed upwards.

The light from these and from the windows revealed to her now the silhouettes of five individuals. Her companions, just as they had been but a moment ago in the Lifestream. All unconscious, asleep.

Emet-Selch, her Hades, slumped over in a chair, snoring.

Luciane, opposite him, in much the same position on the next chair, minus the snoring.

On the couch between them, G’raha Tia and Y’shtola, both leaning on the ends of the couch arms, asleep, softly breathing.

She rose from the bed, and looked over to see Elidibus, turned to face her, asleep on the bed’s other side. Still in Ardbert’s body, returned by Hydaelyn’s power, with his hair brown but streaked with flecks of white. Ardbert’s face, still uncanny even in repose, so subtly different from the ghost that had followed her on her recent adventures.

She rubbed her eyes, still disoriented, and walked to the nearest window. In it’s reflection, she could see her hair had turned completely white, away from it’s prior purple and pink, her preferred colours, or from blue, her natural colours.

This however was less shocking than what she beheld beyond the window. Amaurot, the phantom of Hades’ memory and devising, at the bottom of the ocean.

On the First.

She had sent them here, of all places. Away from the Source. And surrounding it now, was a large blue bubble of Hydaelyn’s seeming design.

To contain them.

***

Sarah sat silently on the side of the bed as she listened to the ocean’s sounds from outside, thinking about what had happened. Hydaelyn had cut her loose. Claimed she was indeed too independent now. She could already feel different, like that familiar light had indeed withdrawn from her.

It left her feeling empty, even as she also felt a small measure of relief. That perhaps now, she could trust herself and her soul again.

She looked around the room at these five souls continuing to sleep, and wondered also at the revelations of that moment in the Lifestream. To learn that she had already begun to find her lights again, her real ones, in her own way. Always drawn to her. For whatever reason, Hydaelyn had sought to expediate fate in this matter and force the last of her hearts to her side.

She suspected now it had been a part of Her plan; to contain her by containing them. The ones who, in their own ways, would be the most determined and capable of rescuing her, no matter where in creation She deposited Her wayward Warrior. G’raha especially, with his power to summon, would have been able to undo much via the Crystal Tower on the Source.

She smiled a bit to know at least that he and Y’shtola might be able to make the most of this development in various ways, especially regarding the Crystarium and Slitherbough, assuming the six of them could find a way out of this place. She sighed, looking down at her hands, clawed gloves on her robe as she sat.

“What mess have I gotten us all into this time?”

“Only the kind you always seem so drawn towards, despite my protestations, Persephone.”

She turned her head back to see Elidibus had begun to sit up on his side of the bed, speaking softly to her so as not to disturb the others.

“Hello, Erebus.”

He turned to face her, a neutral expression.

“My true name… once, hearing it come from your lips was a delight, a reminder of the way you held me in highest regard. Now? It feels like you have merely tripped over it, as you seem to trip over everything you do these days.”

She could no longer muster much energy to be angry with him, and merely smiled weakly, turning a bit further around to face him properly.

“I’m… I’m sorry, for all of this.”

“I forgive you, Persephone. I always have. Against my better judgement, perhaps, but I always do.”

“Even for the Tower? And the rest?”

“We disagree, as we did even in our time. And in this case, we did so violently. But I would not let our disagreements keep us separated forever. It has been long enough for that, has it not?”

“Perhaps, but you still want to kill millions for the hope of home’s return. You know I’ll never agree to that.”

“Then we will simply need to remain apart, though it changes not how I feel about you, how I felt then. Like you, I care for my convictions. And unlike him, I can accept that.”

“I doubt it.” She chuckled.

“Besides, I saw what became of you without me. You lost all of the things that made you the man I came to care for so. You didn’t even remember the promise you made to me.”

“And neither did you. Even now, I can tell you do not remember it, that you bluff. Bluffing is unbecoming of your office, Azem.”

“Worked well enough at the volcano.”

Elidibus smiled a bit. That particular adventure, even for all the censures, had been one of his fondest memories of her. And now here she was again, coaxing things from him that had been gone for ages.

“Seems you did come home to us, eventually. As you always did. But not at all how I expected you would. He searched for you for a very long time. Far longer than I, having forgotten you and given up on you.”

A moment of silence.

“I don’t blame you for that. I don’t really deserve any of this.”

“No. No you do not. I suspect that, perhaps, no soul does. That level of devotion. But it is what it is. His choice to make. Yours. Mine.”

“Not much left to choose when you summon beings capable of undermining choice.”

“Better to serve in heaven than rule in hell, Azem.”

She turned her eyes down at this, thinking for a moment, before hearing stirring behind her on one of the chairs.

“ _And here I was thinking you lacked all flair for drama, Emissary. Perhaps it has only been in absence_.”

Hades passed a gloved hand through his hair, paying careful attention to straightening his white lock. He turned to face the two on the bed.

“ _So, hero, here we are again. Though not at all how we expected to be. And with more familiar company. Was that all you expected and more from your ‘Mother’_?”

Sarah furrowed her brow.

“I guess… after what happened in Ishgard, our conversation… my thoughts on the matter… maybe not all that unexpected. But I don’t think even you expected Her to place us here of all places.”

“ _And She seems to have locked the door on Her way out. She must really be afraid of you_.”

“After that exchange? Despite the ‘gifts’, She should be.”

Hades grinned.

“ _I never thought I’d see the day. A shame that you didn’t have this same perspective when it came time to judge your worth before. Perhaps things may have proven very different.._.”

“I was never going to agree to the Ardor, Hades. You can call me an Ascian if you want but I never wanted and do not want now any part in the Rejoinings.”

“ _My apologies, my dear. Old force of habit, tis all_.”

“You may both cast aside our hopes for the future and their return, but I never will.”

She turned back to Erebus.

“ _I wouldn’t be so hasty, my friend. She can be very persuasive, after all. Not unlike yourself, given your role. She won me over in the end_.”

“By putting a hole through you, and by being married to you, the definition of a sentimental fool that you are. And by doing those… things you both enjoy so much, with you again.”

She blushed a bit on that last point, Hades smirking while rising from his chair to move towards the window she’d looked through earlier.

“ _At least She was nice enough to provide me with a body. A clone, from Garlemald; I can tell, the longer I spend reviewing it. A sufficient form, for the… other things we both enjoy so much, that I’d like to do with you again_.”

A wider smirk from them both, as she imagined which of those things she was going to do to him first when they had some alone time again.

“All the powers of the old world, all the boundless experiences of the soul, and you still lust for adamant flesh. Persephone indeed in every way…”

He snorted a bit, waving his hand to replace the simple robes Hydaelyn had given him with his proper Ascian robes, and placed his mask back on his face slowly, as if adjusting it to fit Ardbert’s nose.

“At least we retain our powers, though I suspect it will not prove equal to the task of freeing us, if She has accounted for our situation in full.”

Hades gazed out at the lights of Amaurot, lost in thought, yellow eyes regarding the blue barrier around his city intently.

“ _While we give that some thought, I suppose we can make the most of this situation and help our other three companions along in regaining their memories. Perhaps if they remember themselves more, they can also offer some manner of insight in turn as to this predicament_.”

Sarah nodded, and turned to the others, who even now had begun to be coaxed from their slumber by the three of them talking. G’raha Tia was the first to wake enough to speak.

“If I am not mistaken… this is the room where he held me… when he spirited me away from the mountain, some months ago.”

“ _Persephone’s apartment, her bedroom, from the time before she lived with me. When she was the Chief Librarian… speaking of which, we should take them and you to the Library. You never had the chance to visit it when you were here before, as I recall_.”

Her eyes perked up a bit at this suggestion, from their previous dour continence. If they were going to be trapped here a while, at least they could make the most of it. And she wanted to see her home again, in a more full, visual sense, in the present. Such as it was.

“Sarah… I did not know Elidibus was another of your Ascian acquaintances. A great deal seems to have changed indeed.”

“ _Seems Apollo has lost his knack for easy insight_.”

The miqo’te’s ears perked up at this, wiggling around in that way Sarah occasionally found endearing, and other times annoying. He turned to look at Hades in confusion.

“A... Apollo? Who might that be?”

“ _You, you daft fool. Or haven’t you been paying attention_?”

“I’ve only been here for all of half a bell, far as we can all tell! And lest you forget I’ve never even had much occasion to speak with most of you, save for Sarah, nor give much thought to the ancient world. And you especially were hardly forthcoming with information last I checked!”

“ _Then let now be the time for it. And especially due to your equivalence to us_.”

G’raha blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes. Hades laughed.

“ _Deudalaphon, the Benevolent. The Source’s current shard of him, AND thanks to your little journeys through time, eight times Rejoined, as Sarah is thanks to Ardbert. Little wonder you achieved all you did, given your heritage, even without holding the role. You lack your office, but I suspect that can be overcome in short order, or am I mistaken, Erebus_?”

Elidibus glared a moment at the miqo’te, studying him.

“I possess the stones again, for all offices save hers. But I much prefer the one we selected to take up the Ascension, who yet lives as I do recall.”

“ _It will be interesting to see them meet, in the future_.”

G’raha looked from one to the other of the Ascians, now very confused indeed, and struggling to process the notion that he had been handed, in short order, the realization of his old name and, more shockingly, the notion that he had been a Convocation member.

“He may not Ascend to the seat, not unless the other dies, or merges with him.”

“M-merges?!?”

“’Raha, I promise, I would not let that happen unless you wanted it.” She now glared at Elidibus.

“Please, try to keep the revelations to one per bell, for the nonce? This is a lot to take in for all of us, myself included.”

“By all means, I shall endeavour to work at your pace, Azem. At their pace. But do not expect my charity to extend much beyond that…”

He sneered a bit at G’raha.

“He may at least be allowed to wear his robes, if he so chooses. And be amusing to watch.”

G’raha rose and began pacing back and forth in front of the couch, trying to remember any of this being the case, as Luciane rose from her chair, stretching.

“Sarah, where are we?”

“Amaurot, Ariadne. Welcome home.”

Her eyes became as wide as the moon at this.

“How? How can that be?!”

“Lest you wonder, I do remember mentioning to you briefly that he recreated this place… on the First. It sadly isn’t the original.”

Her shock at the first suggestion, of their presence in a recreation of their ancient home, was now rapidly replaced with shock at the notion that they were on the First. And all that fact seemed to suggest about their situation. She weakly smiled at her, and shrugged in a sarcastic manner.

“Is that all? Where do we plan to visit next, the moon? I hear Menphina is lovely this turn of the seasons.”

“You would be correct, Ariadne.” Elidibus was beginning to enjoy toying with these shards, ever so slightly. Given their imperfect recollections allowing for more stimulating conversation than he was used to.

“ _I suspect you think yourself very amusing, Emissary_.”

“If only to myself. Allow an older man his little pleasures, Angel.”

A nod between them. Y’shtola came to motion to the door behind Emet-Selch, panning around for the handle in the shadows cast over it.

“If it’s all the same to all of you, I would much rather find a place to relieve myself. The journey thus far has left me feeling a bit… ill…”

She held her stomach a moment with one hand as she finally found the handle with the other, opening the door to reveal a large figure on the other side. Another familiar face, now being mirrored in miniature.

“ _Ah, excellent timing my friend. I made certain to summon him when I finally took the measure of this place of my design again_.”

“And a pleasant evening to all of you and you especially, esteemed Emet-Selch!”

Y’shtola forgot her previous discomfort as she came to regard Hythlodaeus with wide eyes. Herself. Himself.

“Ah… Hythlodaeus, I take it?”

“A pleasure to meet you too, me. I always did have a fondness for cats. This is a most enjoyable discovery!”

He clapped briefly, motioning a large hand out to shake hers. She tentatively returned the gesture, gradually coming to smile up at this towering Ancient as she did so, her soul filling with warmth at the memories that came to her in this moment with him.

Hades smiled, and turned to Sarah, as the others watched ‘Shtola begin to converse with the shade.

“ _I have a few ideas as to how we can all make the most of this, like she now is. And you as well, I should think. And a few developing ideas for how we might relieve ourselves of this impromptu prison She has placed us in. Perhaps for now, however, we can take a moment to breathe, collect ourselves_?”

“A few introductions… reintroductions, are in order too, I think. For all of us.”

Everyone turned to her, including the shade in the hall.

“A reunion is it? Wonderful. I’ll be sure to prepare your favourite tea then! No need to trouble yourself this time, Ariadne.” With this, the shade turned down the hall and seemed to fade away. Luciane and Y’shtola smiled at him, before smiling at one another.

“ _He’ll return in a while, with tea and refreshments, worry not. He possesses a sort of ‘will’, and can collaborate with the other, lesser shades to accommodate us. Make our stay, however long, more comfortable_.”

Sarah nodded, managing a smile in full this time. She addressed the group.

“I… I know this is a bit of a roundabout way for us to all come together again, especially when it’s been at Her design, to imprison us. And I am certainly feeling a measure of urgency to leave too, and deal with the matter She revealed to us… But…”

The memory of their meeting, from her vision, the one she had witnessed with Ariadne earlier across their bond between the moments of awareness, now flashed into her mind. She smiled a little wider, to think upon it and it’s seemingly appropriate nature for this moment. She took in each face before continuing.

“I called you all here today to discuss something very important for the future. For our future. Together.”

Hades eyes softened, recalling that moment as she began to talk, to speak on their shared bonds with her, and her devotion to them all as old friends and loves dear to her heart. And as she invited them to introduce themselves in turn, and to remember themselves. As they had been, and as they were now…

**‘Elidibus, the Emissary, in Ardbert’s form. Erebus. Zodiark’s Heart. The original Warrior of Light. Twelfth in the line of the Convocation of Fourteen.’**

**‘Luciane Corne Traihaveur. Ariadne. Archer Guildmaster. Scion of the Seventh Dawn. Surrogate Azem, the Traveler.’**

**‘Y’shtola Rhul. Hythlodaeus. Archon of Sharlayan and the Circle of Knowing. Scion of the Seventh Dawn. Chief Architect of the Bureau of the Architect.’**

**‘G’raha Tia. Apollo. Archon of Sharlayan and the Students of Baldesion. Scion of the Seventh Dawn. Crystal Exarch. Deudalaphon, the Benevolent, Tenth in the line of the Convocation of Fourteen.’**

**‘Emet-Selch, the Angel of Truth. Her Hades, and formerly, Solus zos Galvus, founding father and first emperor of the Garlean Empire. Thirteenth in the line of the Convocation of Fourteen.’**

**‘And Sarah Corehealer. Persephone. Adventurer, possessed of many titles and many roles. Warrior of Light, and of Darkness. Azem, the Traveler, Fourteenth in the line of the Convocation of Fourteen. And Chief Librarian of the Cocytus Library.’**

Her constellation, circling the Sun. For weal or for woe.

Time would tell what awaited them next, in the city, and on this shard, and back on the Source, if they could find their way. And what manner of world they would find waiting for them there, when they returned, assuming they did, given the already turning gears of the Telophoroi.

As they sat and talked, this remained in the back of their minds. They took what comfort they could from this long awaited reunion, difficult and combative as it was in some respects, and the knowledge that they would find a solution together.

For this moment, at least, they had one another again. They had her again. At long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, it should be stated up front given this chapter's contents, that this is very much all fanon and speculation and my own personal takes and theories on display, not canon. Elidibus having a name now, and G'raha having an Ancient name and a Convocation office, are borne from my own desire to, in the former case, give him an appropriate name and, in the latter case, quite honestly screw around with reader expectations. To claim a vision for him for myself.
> 
> Elidibus benefits from a name, and this name I find suits him more than some fan speculated names such as Zeus (breaking from the Unsundered as chief Olympians naming scheme idea) because I view him as an embodiment of Zodiark in extension of His will, while still being his own person. And Erebus is ambiguous enough in mythology that he has more room to work with than most 'gods' with their own metaphorical baggage expectations.
> 
> Hades suits his role as Emet-Selch with his name, but Elidibus kind of straddles a fair few lines between light and dark. I like that about him, honestly, and want to play with his duality in turn by alluding to it with this name, and in turn examine his struggles to be his own person even with his role and place as the Heart.
> 
> G'raha Tia is a character I have enjoyed a lot, but also struggled with at times, most recently in 5.3 and 5.4. I liked his writing as the Exarch in many ways more than I liked his Crystal Tower, younger self, without fully disliking either. And I want now to try and find a balance between those two, in a way a bit beyond how I see him currently presented in the game as; a hero worshipping regression to his more youthful self, who seems to steal the spotlight, stumble to success and constantly have an answer to all problems. Some people like that, and all power to them, but I want to try and write him how I've most enjoyed him, so that I can more fully embrace him.
> 
> In that sense then, I have chosen to give him Deudalaphon (one of a few Convocation members we know virtually nothing about, so a blank slate at present) and an Ancient name (Apollo fits him, in my opinion) as part of the process of claiming him for myself, as I want him to be. If you like my vision for him, then I am glad for it. If you do not, I respect your opinion.
> 
> As to other topics covered, I leave that up to reader interpretation, but feel free to leave a comment if you'd like to chat about any of my interpretations, such as regarding Hydaelyn. I'm always happy to talk writing and lore. :3


	3. Divided Attentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while to pin down and write, in particular because it has a lot of characters interacting and has a lot of balls in the air being juggled around, in terms of story themes. That said, it is also a consequence of my current academic work that I've had to set aside my main series and other fanfic for the most part (barring the recent rush of EmetWoL week pieces, themselves set in this story moment). I've been very busy lately, and will remain so for the next couple months.
> 
> I look forward to continuing this work, as I love my main series as a way to explore the FFXIV world in a fuller, epic sense, and bring love and focus to my favourite characters and my WoL. In that sense, I'll always come back to it. But for now, it will need to sit and wait for Endwalker for the most part before I continue it in full. See the notes at the end of this chapter for more on that.
> 
> Sarah and her companions discuss matters regarding their situation, trapped in Hades phantom Amaurot. Hades and Elidibus test it, and each other, before suggesting to Sarah that she ask Feo Ul for help, and seek outside assistance here on the First.

Several bells had passed since the six of them had arrived within the city. In this time, they’d spoken at length about the situation they now found themselves in, and about how they would try to make the most of it, despite remaining conscious of the revelations Hydaelyn had shared with them, and their desire to return to the Source to deal with whatever it was Fandaniel and Zenos intended to carry out.

Sarah had the sneaking suspicion, as they spoke, that she would need each of them and their powers and insights to tackle this problem head on, when the time came. In that sense, she still wondered in some small part of her mind as to if Hydaelyn had been hedging Her bets when it came to Her erstwhile Warrior of Light. That, while She no longer trusted Sarah to be entirely tempered or loyal, She still believed Her Warrior could be the solution to the world ending again.

And that She didn’t believe Sarah and her companions would remain locked up forever, willingly or otherwise, but didn’t exactly want them to be either. The other Warriors arisen to replace Sarah, assuming they would come to exist, would perhaps in this sense prove to be more a distraction or a placeholder to buy time while She awaited whatever Sarah would do. A theory, but one Sarah wanted to believe might be possible, even with her current thoughts on the Mother Crystal being tinged with anger.

She thought also on that first detail; had she really been tempered? Had it somehow been broken? Had she been carried in too many different directions by love for it to hold? Or was she still following Hydaelyn’s will in this moment even without the need for crystals of Light to empower her? She’d grown a great deal all on her own without them, even if they’d provided her the means to begin her path in this life. And now she had something more special, more personal, to hold onto that held just as much if not more power for her.

She looked down several times at the Azem crystal while she thought, cradled now in her hands, which she had kept close throughout recent events. It felt emptier for his absence, but she could still feel the imprint of the time he had spent there, and could somehow tell that, were it ever necessary, his soul could return there again. A comforting thought to know he at least would be able to avoid death yet again if it came to that.

She never intended to allow that to come to pass again, by her hand or any others, if she could help it. His life most of all motivated her to go and deal with her ‘friend’ and his newly rogue Ascian as soon as she could. So he and all the other things she loved and cherished about life would not be undone by whatever twisted visions drove them both.

The crystal itself remained an enigma to her, even with its creator never far even now that he possessed a body again. She wished to ask him more about it, but suspected that given its nature and his own preference to help her by encouraging her to figure things out on her own, that he would not tell her all that she needed to know to make use of it. But simply holding it, she could see in its soft glow the untapped potential that remained. It was perhaps among the most reassuring things she had in this moment of uncertainty.

“Sarah?”

Y’shtola was sitting on the couch, face forward flipping through the black book Matoya had given them on the Source. It had traveled with them into the Lifestream and on towards Amaurot, but had been momentarily forgotten in the rush of events. She had remembered it remained present after some time spent calming her nerves, shot out from the experience of the Lifestream taxing her weakened aetheric balance and her eyes and making her feel temporarily ill.

“Yes, ‘Shtola?”

“It says here that we met in childhood, and knew Hecate going back nearly our whole long Ancient lives. Can you imagine?”

“And to bump into one another again in the solar in the Sands, after the winding journey to find each other again. Gods… fate has a long memory indeed.”

“Almost as long as Hades has apparently. Or Master Matoya for that matter.”

“I imagine the Night’s Blessed would say the same of their own Matoya, on the subject of memory.” She smiled.

“Runar would, certainly. I hope we can find a way out of here soon enough so I can surprise him. Even if only for a little while, however long we remain on the First.” She smiled back for a moment at Sarah before continuing to read.

Another important detail; once they extricated themselves from Hades’ Amaurot, they would need to find a way off the First and back to the Source as well. Perhaps it would be time to try and explore the question of bridging the divide between the two worlds more fully with G’raha, who was now sitting on the couch near Y’shtola, reading through a book of his own. Something Hythlodaeus’ shade had brought forth from Persephone’s apartment’s collection of books in the living room for him to read.

“Once we return to the Crystal Tower, and get through the assured bells of explanations and apologies that will accompany my own return to the Crystarium, we can discuss the matter in the Ocular.”

“You say that all so casually as if Lyna won’t want to skin you alive for departing so quickly the last time and leaving her and the others with a vacant government and no real sense of succession.”

“Or for departing without a fuller goodbye or a consistent means to communicate with the Source… I know. I will… certainly need to take my time this time, with this new chance I have been afforded by you, Sarah. Less then ideal as it may be.”

He flipped another page of the book.

“I suspect some of the answers we seek could be found amongst the collected treasures of the city, though I doubt anything, even something as illuminating as this text, will give us everything we need for this question. The Ancients never considered the need for sundered beings to traverse sundered shards, after all.”

He ran a solitary finger down the pages.

“The Tower is the key to all questions regarding traversal of the rift, in any case; with it, we will find a way, however long it takes.”

“So, what’s in that book anyway? I hope my past self possessed a sufficiently stimulating taste in books for you?”

“Oh, certainly. This is a romance novel you yourself wrote, in that past era. Seems you were someone for whom academic writing was not your only passion. And I must say… she had quite the active imagination when it came to… bedroom antics…”

The pair of them blushed, as did Y’shtola as she stole a glance over towards the book in his hands, a work covered in Ancient script with a large title on simple relief; ‘ _Flight of the Sarkikos_.’ It was coloured red but possessed no artistic rendition belying its saucey contents.

“I always did wish to write something for myself, of that nature… hopefully in better times I’ll get the chance to outdo myself, as it were.”

“The shade handed me a few of your works; I think Emet-Selch suggested the idea to him, to provide us with your work so we could reminisce over it.”

Y’shtola chimed in, flipping another of the pages of Matoya’s journal.

“Some of the Ancient lettering on these books can be hard to interpret at times, but it all seems innately legible, not unlike hearing their language when spoken.”

G’raha closed the book in his hands and placed it to one side of the couch, next to the others the shade Hythlodaeus had brought, before reaching for another coloured a simple cyan blue, with a picture of a knight atop the face; a Hyur who would not look too out of place in Ishgard, despite possessing a different set of armor and wearing what appeared to be a dress below the plate cuirass, covering over plate greaves.

“This one is called ‘ _The Apothecary_.’ And yet it has a knight on the cover. Strange.”

He cracked it open and began to read as Sarah turned to see Luciane looking out the window. She’d elected to spend the most time out of all of them gazing out at the city. Of all present, she’d had the least experience in this life with the city, or memories of it in the past, and the chance to walk its recreated streets already called out to her.

“Y’know, you could have simply chosen to go with Hades and Erebus outside while they went to go on their ‘errand’ and take in the city on your own. It’s completely safe, I promise. The cubuses are pretty docile once you kill a few; nothing you can’t handle.”

“And I do want to see it, but I was hoping to do so with you a bit later. When you feel up to it. I didn’t want to interrupt everyone reading and chatting, or deprive Hades and Erebus of their chance to talk.”

“You’re also welcome to join us, Luciane. You’re a Scion now, after all, in addition to a friend. And some of these books are simply fascinating reads. Maybe you’ll find something you’ll like?” G’raha smiled over at her, a smile she returned as she managed to tear her eyes from the window to regard the three of them seated around the table.

“I’ve only just started writing again myself, within my journal. I did a lot more of it in Ariadne’s time, even before I met Persephone.” She walked from the window to occupy the remaining seat in the chair opposite Sarah.

“Speaking of her writing… I think I found just the book for you, Luciane.” Sarah handed her a yellow and green book from the stack, cropped with leaf patterns and possessed of an arrow atop the surface, pointing upwards.

“Amanuensis Ariadne.” She gasped.

“Your title in the Ancient language, what we translate as secretary. Written here on the cover of a book you wrote, which my former self possessed in her collection.”

“Gods… I hadn’t thought she’d actually had the time to publish anything before everything that happened. But she did mention…” Luciane was lost in thought for a moment, thinking back on her first visions of Ariadne and her friends. Euripides and Kallisto. And the story they had wanted to make together, inspired by their constellations.

It would seem she’d actually managed to get the ideas down in a book after all. Her eyes gazed out over the title now.

“ _The Hunter’s Moon_.”

“An eye catching title if ever there was one, I think. Should see what’s inside.”

She began to read, and spent the better part of a bell doing so as they all turned towards books of their own. Sarah herself grabbed another of her former self’s published works, this time her written history of the Cocytus Library, the institution she once had headed for a time as Chief Librarian, or ‘Archontes’. In these many written works and Matoya’s journal, they each remembered a little more, and came to chat pleasantly about what came to mind.

***

As the four of them continued to read and chat in Persephone’s apartment bedroom, Emet-Selch and Elidibus took the measure of the city. Shades arranged themselves in respectful rows as their comparatively smaller, mortally framed forms passed by. The shades addressed them in cordial and honourary manner as they passed; something Emet had brought forth as a little bit of dramatic recollection for his ever memory challenged peer to appreciate.

Elidibus, for his part, was mostly silent for a time, barely taking in the city’s environs and the shades or acknowledging Hades’ odd quips and comments, simply stuck thinking about Zodiark and when He would next deign to speak through His Heart. Or calculating how to remove himself from this prison. Or thinking about how Fandaniel had gotten to this point of betraying them in such a spectacularly disastrous fashion.

Something Emet-Selch was responsible for. He had clearly failed in this critical element of his role among the Ascians. He’d ever been responsible for the stones of office and preserving them, reascending the shards of their peers to maintain the Ascians ranks. And then explaining to the reascended, again and again, what their lives were like and their relationships and roles. And the nature of the work ahead for them.

Fandaniel had been returned many times. Emet-Selch had overseen every return. Somewhere along the line, he’d become lax in his duty. And not only in this crucial matter…

His thoughts turned again as well to that most irksome of topics. Azem, the Traveler. Long gone and now returned, and already undoing millennia of painstaking work. Returning with each passing moment to some semblance of what she had been, and closing in on the time when, he knew, Emet-Selch would attempt to reascend her to her seat in full, and grant with it all her powers and responsibilities. Her memories, to the degree a sundered being could possess them while several more shards remained scattered.

She troubled him just as much, as well, for his feelings for her, an inflection of both his prior life as just Erebus and the memory of this mortal shell. Ardbert, who had been her shard and had, in his own ways, cared for her. An effect of their shared nature, perhaps, but it had existed all the same in their ignorance as to the truth, at least until the very end. And now it was something he had to deal with in turn.

Emotions clouding judgment. He was already falling along the same primrose path Emet-Selch had allowed to rule his heart for too long, shirking duty. It had borne out the stone of her office. It had borne out this city they now walked within. It had brought them here, to this point. All because he could not let go of her.

And, he hated this, because neither could he.

“Emet-Selch?”

“ _Oh, so now you deign to respond. Lost overmuch in your own thoughts this evening, dear Elidibus_?”

“You did all of this for her. You let go of centuries of hard work, ages of planning and success, simply for her sake.”

“ _Not all at once and not without quite a few disagreements and a bit of violence along the way. You saw what happened yourself, by your own admission_.”

“And yet the fact remains. You poured yourself into her the moment you found her, despite all of our Lord’s grace, and now we have been undone and face the end of the world because of it.”

“ _That seems a gross oversimplification to my ears. Fandaniel could have been planning this little defection for quite a long time, waiting for the opportunity to be rid of us, and then seizing it as he has now_.”

“And yet, he would not have felt the need to do so had you maintained the proper oversight and control of the Ascension process. Had you not attended due care to his stone of office and to speaking with him upon his return. His failure and betrayal are on your head, Emet-Selch.”

“ _And it is an oversight I intend to rectify, but nothing, and I mean nothing, was ever going to prevent me from trying to salvage my wife. You know this. And deep down, you are glad that I did_.”

“Not if it would cost us everything. All our suffering, our hard work. And the fate of our people, now left to drift on the winds of fading memory and time…”

He gazed around the city, and over the faces of the shades still standing in their midst.

“You filled all this artifice with fondness for them, and yet you cannot be bothered to remain committed to returning them to life in full.”

“ _I am no longer convinced that was ever going to be possible_.”

“She has poisoned your mind.”

“ _She has liberated it, old friend. She showed me where we had gone so wrong_.”

“And for what? All of this sundered existence that yet remains? Meaningless, fleeting, and certainly unequal to the task of stewardship if they require our hand to save them from your failure. Or Her hand, for that matter.”

“ _Given time and peace, a peace we never afforded them the chance to find, I am coming to believe they can be given the chance to try. To do as we once did, and build a brighter future_.”

“Then you truly are lost to us and have become as naïve as she is. You belong together.”

“ _You never thought so before she broke your heart_.”

Silence, for a long while, as they continued to walk. The shades departed with a nod from Hades, as they finally approached to within visual range of the base of Hydaelyn’s bubble. It was crisscrossed with arcane patterns reminiscent of the summoning circle that Venat and her group had used to call Her forth, so long ago.

As they closed the distance, Elidibus resumed his speech.

“You trade your world for ashes. She will break your heart too.”

“ _She already did, once. And now she mends it. As I try to do in turn with her and her own heart in turn_. _There’s nothing else for it, after so long_.”

A sigh.

“I do not imagine I will ever understand you, Hades… especially not now. How you can let go of so much for one woman. A woman who would have been returned to us, had things been different.”

“ _Assuming she was, she would have remembered all of this, and in turn would have come to hate me, and hate life itself. Unable to contain the guilt of countless millions, dead for our actions, to bring her back_.”

“Their lives are ephemeral and worthless.”

“ _And that is the crux of the lie we have led. I see that now. She has showed me their worth_.”

“Even after everything they’ve showed you up close in your work among them, all the death and betrayal and war and needless suffering? You would believe that now? Because she told you to?”

“ _Because she showed me. Because this world showed me_.”

Another long silence.

“ _Had she returned to us and come to hate me, I would never have been able to forgive myself. Or come to appreciate life again. She is everything to me_.”

“Even moreso then our Lord? Our people? Our Star?”

“ _Everything_.”

“Folly.”

Another sigh, this time from Hades.

“ _Let us… try to focus on the matter at hand, shall we_?”

“The sooner I am rid of this place, and you, and her, the better.”

What had happened to this man after so long? To make him so determined to stay a course that was now so very clearly wrong? And in defiance of a woman he too cared for a great deal and who he had been committed to, once, just as Hades was, in his own ways?

Elidibus ran a clawed finger over the barrier, as Hades chose his final words on the matter.

“ _She does care a great deal about you too. Just as she does for me, and for them_.”

“Ariadne, Hythlodaeus and Apollo I can understand. Dear friends and colleagues and lovers. Devoted, and in their own ways also let down by her and her ‘convictions’, just as it was with us, upon the Convocation, and just as it was for you. For you most especially.”

He shook his head and turned to his peer.

“But I do not understand you. I do not understand this. And I do not think that I ever will.”

“ _Then perhaps we are merely lost to one another now… because of Zodiark_.”

“It is not just our Lord whom I place my faith in. I remember the days when we wandered aimlessly in the wake of the Sundering. The tears that never ceased. I cupped the empty air in my hands for want of my brothers and sisters. For want of her…”

He drew his face down to the ground.

“It is because I love her and them all, that I do what must be done. Even if all others around me lose their way. Including you.”

“ _Then I can only hope that she can do a better job of showing you the error of our path. Or that time will help, though that perhaps has never changed your mind much, as it helped to do with me_.”

“You’d been considering betraying us for far longer?”

“ _Not in the sense that Fandaniel seems to have, no. But I have not always had full belief in this course, after ages of seeing glimmers of her conviction in the sundered people, and the shards. Holding Solus’ firstborn son was… one such moment of seeing for a moment what she saw in them_.”

“It is enough to wonder how many others among our order now waver for lack of my guiding hand. What a sad age this is for us all.”

He shook his head again before tapping at the barrier a few times.

“As expected, a mix of umbrally charged, overlapping crystal lattices. Threaded through with local elements such as water, ice and earth. Each lattice destroyed would work in rapid succession to repair itself and others around it. We would need to undo them all simultaneously somehow to undo the barrier…”

Hades frowned, looking over the lattice before them, a spinning crystalline circle slowly drifting around along the barrier’s circular face. Beyond its transparent surface he could make out the few buildings of the city that were not encompassed in the barrier, as well as the sea floor and coral life that existed beyond.

Considering both this problem and their conversation, an idea came to him, something that might prove an elegant solution to both the barrier and his friend’s stubbornness.

“ _Sarah possesses a means of contacting the outside world. And we may have need of outside assistance to undo this barrier_.”

“I doubt the stunted reflections that inhabit this shard will be of any use to us in this.”

“ _I imagine then that it is high time you saw what they were capable of. We should return to the others and inform them of the barrier’s nature and what can be done_.”

“You already have something in mind. At least your scheming has not faltered for her intoxicating presence.”

“ _It has, in fact, grown only more devious and honed for her influence, as you will see my friend. Come_.”

A beckoning hand as he began to move back in the direction of the city’s center and the building where Sarah and her friends remained. After a pause and a final look up at the barrier, Erebus followed.

***

A knock at the door.

“Ah, Hades and Erebus must be back. Come in!”

The two Ascians opened and closed the door, moving to the group still circled around the bedroom table.

“ _Sarah my dear, you wouldn’t happen to have your pixie companion from this shard handy, would you_?”

Sarah’s eyes widened a bit, for her rapid realization of what he was proposing.

“Gods, I cannot believe it didn’t occur to me before! I can summon them here and they can help us escape!”

Hades shook his head.

“ _I’m afraid I would be very much surprised if your ‘Feo Ul’ could provide us the means of escape on their own. What I have in mind is rather for their assistance in contacting the outside world, and to garner aid from those able to make the journey here_.”

Sarah put a hand to her chin, as Y’shtola spoke up.

“I suspect there wouldn’t be anyone who could be able to, save for the Ondo in our midst. And I doubt they’ll be in much of a position to assist us. They fear even approaching the ‘illuminated land’ that they revere as the abode of the ancients alone.”

“ _I was hoping to elicit the pixie’s aid in bringing select individuals here, so that we may converse with them at the barrier’s wall. It does not appear to be incapable of allowing for communication near to it. What I was hoping to ask for was your opinions on who to try and contact and bring here_.”

He turned to G’raha Tia.

“ _You in particular know the lay of the land and who might feasibly be best equipped to help us escape, yes_?”

G’raha nodded, closing the book in his hand and setting it to one side.

“Of course. Beq Lugg for one...”

He rose from his seat on the couch, lost in thought for a moment, pacing around.

“There are not many more, however, that I can imagine will be of much use to us. At least not within the Crystarium.”

“We should at least let them know you’ve returned and have need of assistance. Perhaps all of them putting their heads together will bear fruit?”

G’raha stared at Sarah for a moment, his face becoming a bit flushed.

“I... was hoping to break the news of my return in person... I do not know how they would react to this. Or to the knowledge of our entrapment here, at the bottom of the ocean. In an ancient city no less...”

“You worry too much about what they are capable of believing. I doubt this would start a panic, so long as it is delivered by someone calm and authoritative who can take the reins of any situation that unfolds. Who can direct their response and help them find a means of assisting us.”

She smiled at him.

“Which is why I suggest Feo Ul bring Lyna down here.”

“L-Lyna? But-”

Sarah rose from her spot and approached him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to overlook the manner of your last meeting in farewell to help us. I suspect she’ll simply be grateful for your return.”

“I... Perhaps... I hope so, in any case.”

A sigh.

“Lyna can inform them, and inform Eulmore as well as the Crystarium’s representative, if the need arises. Both cities could render us aid as we might need it with Feo Ul as a messenger and conveyance between the surface and the ocean floor. Strange as that all sounds to speak aloud...”

He shook his head, returning to some measure of composure.

“Perhaps this will work in our favour then. Was there anyone else you could think to ask for, Sarah?”

Another moment of thought.

“Cyella.”

“The... barmaid at the Wandering Stairs?”

“Ahh... the agent we placed here many years ago. I had forgotten about her.”

“Of course you have...” Sarah turned to Elidibus now, furrowing her eyes at him in mild disappointment.

“You abandoned her on this shard after she failed to conclude Ardbert’s role in the Rejoinings and got Loghrif and Mitron killed.”

“ _Well... you already know about Eden, as I recall from our discussions_.”

“Yes... which means we should bring Gaia down here too, actually. And Ryne; the Oracle would be happy to see us again I'm sure.”

“Loghrif’s shard... interesting.”

Sarah approached the Ascians.

“We should bring them both here. So you can apologize to them, and elicit their assistance. Unukalhai is also here now, thanks to my efforts, and both he and Cyella have my trust. They’ll be willing to listen to me if I vouch for you both, despite how you’ve treated them and the Thirteenth.”

Despite the mention of his former pupil and favoured agent, Elidibus overlooked Unukalhai to continue voicing his disdain for this state of affairs.

“I can’t believe we’ve been reduced to begging for ‘forgiveness’ from malformed creatures.”

“ _You get used to it_.”

“Perhaps you do. And here I was thinking you still had a spine, Emet-Selch.”

“Can it. I don’t want any bickering from you on this matter. We need to focus on escaping, and making the most of this moment and each other’s company. I suggest you try to do the same.”

Elidibus stared at Sarah for a moment, his face cold and unreadable.

“Very well, Azem... for now, I will hold my tongue and allow you to impress me. I won’t hold my breath, however.”

He turned and left the apartment, making his way back in the direction of the barrier’s wall, as if coaxing the others to follow him to where he rightly assumed they would be making contact with anyone they summoned.

“I suppose we should follow him.” Luciane approached Hades and Sarah, shrugging.

“I suppose we should. Let’s see what we can do with six.”

Everyone gathered together by the door and left, following in his wake.

***

Within less then half a bell, the six erstwhile companions came to the place where Hades and Erebus had tested the barrier. After a moment of gazing up across the barrier’s surface, all faces turned to Sarah.

“Feo Ul! I have need of you!”

That familiar flash of light and the chiming tones of pixie magic now accompanied the telltale arrival of the King of Il Mheg, in their smaller form. Ready and rearing to assist, but also to ensure Sarah knew that she had waited much too long to ask for help from their loveliest branch.

They appeared hovering now a short distance from Sarah’s face, within the scope of the barrier, seemingly unperturbed by Hydaelyn’s magic. Sarah could already see the annoyance writ large on the pixie king’s face. She knew just the thing for it.

“A van ker-m sin? [Are you there, my friend?]”

Sarah decided to try and dust off some of the words she’d learned from G’raha and Urianger, much to the silent delight of the former as he stood behind her with the group.

“Sea, sune-m yak! [Yes, my adorable sapling!]”

Her assumption that Feo Ul would be dissuaded from being too cross with her bore out once her ‘isne fish’ heard her call out in the right language.

“I see you have been practicing your fae tongue! Oh I am so proud that you remembered to practice!”

Feo Ul straightened their posture for a moment, hands to their hips.

“I will thus allow for this dreadfully long wait to be ignored for now, and focus on attending to whatever your heart desires. What do you need?”

Sarah briefly motioned to her friends, herself, and the bubble around them and the city.

“It’s great to see you again Feo; as you can see, my friends and I have gotten stuck in a rather pernicious bind, and I was hoping to see if you might be able to summon friends of mine from this world to the exterior of the barrier around us, so that we can talk to them and figure out a way to get us out.”

Feo Ul gazed around them at the barrier for a few moments in thought, and then looked out at Sarah’s group.

“Your friends look a bit different than from when last I laid eyes on them, my sapling. You’ve been quite busy indeed!”

They darted with a start towards each in turn, starting with G’raha.

“I see the Exarch has returned far faster than expected!”

“Ro vala, ker-m. [I have fulfilled my duty, my friend.] I wander wither the wild rose blooms now, and follow my dearest friend.” He smiled up at the pixie, who smiled back.

Hades rose an eyebrow at this comment from the red-haired man near to him, before roused from his thoughts by the pixie’s attentions near his face.

“And you! Tis no surprise to me to see one such as you still among the living and the dead. Didn’t get too rattled up in the stream of life I trust?”

“ _I am quite whole and hale, thank you_.” He brushed the pixie aside in annoyance.

“Oh come now, no need to be so rough with your beloved’s loyal branch, ain firnik! [Truth Angel!] You’d do well not to underestimate me... I play rough too when the mood takes me!”

Hades looked at Sarah, his eyes already reeking of exhaustion at this interaction.

“ _Please keep a better leash on your familiar, my dear. It’s voice grates on my nerves_.”

“Feo isn’t my familiar, they are my friend! Try to at least hold your tongue if you don’t have anything nice to say.”

He shrugged, but acquiesced to her request, as the pixie moved towards Elidibus next.

“You seem about as lively as him. Who might you be?”

Elidibus said nothing, not even deigning to look in Feo’s direction, stiff as a statue.

“That’s Elidibus, Feo. He’s... had a rough time lately. I’d recommend giving him space.”

The pixie glanced once more at the white robed Ascian before nodding and moving to the last two of the group.

“I am always happy to see you again Master Matoya. And I can think of many souls above who will be delighted to see you again as well.”

“Indeed. I very much look forward to seeing them all again, for however long fate allows. And it is good to see you again as well, Feo Ul.”

The pixie nodded, and then turned towards the ‘elf’ next to her.

“And who is this! Another of my dear sune yak’s in ba-s? [adorable sapling’s shining souls?]”

“A... what?”

“Yes, Feo. This is Luciane, also known as Ariadne. A Guildmaster from the Source and another one dear to my own shining soul.” Sarah offered clarification and response to both, gesturing with a smile at the Guildmaster.

Feo circled around Luciane several times, taking in her every angle and noting the contours of her armor and bow.

“Much better shaped than the other one. Perhaps your tastes are slowly improving after all!”

Hades sighed, shaking his head, even as Luciane chuckled a bit and scoffed.

“Oh Hades isn’t that bad. Once he’s had a nap or three.”

“So long as he treats my sune yak [adorable sapling] right, I shall leave him to his mediocrity.”

“ _You were going to help us, yes? Get on with it_.”

Sarah motioned for everyone to calm, and beckoned Feo over to her again. The pixie flew close, and nodded as Sarah whispered the names of the six souls she sought out into their ear.

“Will be but a moment, my dears. We shall see to their arrival. I shall seek out the aid of my fellows, and bear these souls here to you.”

A flash of light, and the pixie was gone.

***

A few minutes passed in silence, as the group milled about near the barrier, chatting idly and looking around patiently.

Suddenly, a large beam of light appeared not far from the edge of the barrier, atop the surface of the stone walkway they stood upon, but which existed outside the barrier, extending beyond it. A cascade of pixies, Feo Ul included, emerged, followed by the forms of six individuals, slowly adjusting now to this drastic change in surroundings.

Ryne and Gaia were the first to rub the light from their eyes and gasp, witnessing no less than the sight of Amaurot, a vast city before them, and the visages of individuals they both recognized and did not, from this life and, in Gaia’s case, a previous one.

“Sarah! Y’shtola!”

“It’s good to see you again Ryne!”

“Hades! I’m going to kill you!”

“ _Artemis is sure to get a kick out of any attempts at my life, assuming the more recently arisen shard of him yet persists elsewhere. But I would recommend saving your consternation over the previous one’s fate for after we are out of this predicament_?”

Gaia and Ryne stood before the barrier, Ryne focused on Sarah and Y’shtola but saddened by the absence of the other Scions. Gaia for her part focused on Hades, and folded her arms.

Lyna was next to adjust, being dumbstruck by all of this and not immediately recognizing the face of the Exarch, being now much younger and less crystalline for his soul transference. She was the first to rush to the barrier wall and place her hands against it.

“M-my lord? Is... is that you?”

“Yes, Lyna. It is I. I have a great deal to say to you and apologize for. But for the moment, we must focus on the matter at hand. I would-”

“Whatever the problem is, my lord, we will find a way to solve it. You need not worry about apologies or anything else. I am so glad to see you!”

G’raha’s eyes watered a little, as he placed his hand against the barrier in the place where hers was on the other side, smiling.

“Tis good to see you again as well, my dear friend.”

Beq Lugg walked casually in the direction of the barrier, less concerned with the city or the people in their midst and more interested in the barrier’s fascinating composition. They began to tap on it lightly and regard the manifold patterns with curious eyes, saying nothing.

Cyella and Unukalhai were the last to shake themselves from the disorientation of the teleportation, and now stood gazing up at the high spires of the city, lost in thought. They too took a moment to realize two individuals they recognized from their prior existences were waiting for them beyond the barrier.

“Hello again, Emet-Selch. And Elidibus too. I never expected to see you two again. Certainly not in the company of the Warrior of Darkness.”

“ _Oh, if you think that is an interesting detail, just wait until you hear about her thoughts on me these days_.” Hades was finally smiling a bit now, as he often did to think on the ironies of his relationship with Sarah.

Cyella rose an eyebrow up at this before coming to stand next to Ryne and Gaia at the barrier edge, to face him and Sarah and the others nearest her. Her attention was drawn next to the elf in their midst, Luciane, who she regarded with silent interest, not recognizing them.

Elidibus and Unukalhai approached one another at the barrier’s edge, and the taller man kneeled down to meet his protégé’s level.

“You have served me well and faithfully. I am glad to see you are safe.”

“As am I to see you again, Emissary. I thought you dead.”

“I may as well be. But powers beyond me see fit to bring me back. As does the will of a certain Traveler.” He glanced in Sarah’s direction, as she chatted happily with the others and introduced Luciane to Ryne and Gaia.

The groups began to talk and introduce themselves to one another, and explain through various means the nature of their predicament and how they had arrived in it. Of Hydaelyn’s words and actions, and their purpose, as well as the increasing urgency of their need to reach the outside world and find a means back to the Source.

They also took some time to explain the nature of their prison, insofar as they could, and of Amaurot, and Hades creation of it. Out of all assembled, Lyna took the longest to adjust to all of this. To the knowledge of gods and other worlds and pasts so distant in time. And this city of illusions under the sea, populated by giants. It might as well have all been one giant fantasy, so fantastic as to be the final one any could conceive of.

“My lord, I must ask... am I dreaming? Is all of this, and this place, truly real?”

“Yes, captain, it is. I know it is a great deal to take in, but it is as real as the sea floor under your boots and the souls in your midst.”

She gazed at the eclectic group of souls, strangely attired, some known to her, most not, and sighed.

“You certainly never cease to surprise me with your choice of companionship, my lord.”

“Fate brings strange bedfellows, to be sure.” He glanced at the Ascians for a moment, before turning his gaze to Beq Lugg.

“So, my friend, do you have any sense of how we might overcome this barrier?”

The Nu Mou took a moment to think.

“It is a most fascinating construction, far beyond the capacity of any of the mages of Voeburt or even those of the pixies. Such a weave of elements and aether would require access to power in excess of what could be found even in the Crystal Tower! Were it not for your explanation of Hydaelyn, I could not hope to guess at who could have created it, let alone why.”

Everyone began to furrow their eyes and think on this as Beq Lugg continued.

“As to how to overcome it? Your Ascian friends have the right of it, Elidibus especially. A series of concentrated bursts of energies both astral and umbral, localized across the entire barrier simultaneously, will be required to undo it. I haven’t the faintest idea how such magics will be possible to create, control and direct, however.”

Elidibus spoke now in response.

“Were we to possess more of our kin, their might would suffice to direct astral energies into the barrier from either side and provide the means to break it in part. As to the umbral component and the other elements, Sarah’s powers over Light remain even if her Blessing is gone. Between her, Ariadne and the Oracle of Light...” He gestured to Ryne and Luciane, thinking a moment longer on the matter.

“It would be risky, and we would need some larger store of Light’s energy. Possibly from the Tower. I could assist them in directing it, but they would be the ones to apply it to the barrier in concert with others directing the astral.”

“With the Tower providing umbral power, from the sun and other ambient sources, perhaps even the lingering traces of Light that existed here before on the First, we would not want for energy for that aspect of the plan.” G’raha weighed in now, running his hands over the barrier’s solid surface.

“I take it an astral source would be needed then.”

“It may come from us, and other Ascians who might assist, whoever they may be. Even Gaia here can help.” Elidibus now gestured at Gaia and Hades.

“If he deigns it expendable enough, it can even come from the city’s aether, though part or all of it would disintegrate were he to do so.”

Hades now appeared mildly worried, uncharacteristically so, but after a moment shook himself from this and nodded.

“ _The city... is a memory that can be weaved anew, after we are free. If we so desire_.” He turned to Sarah.

“If we need to. And I’ll be happy to help you make a new, better one next time. Just for us.”

He smiled at her, before turning to the others again.

“ _If we can locate others of our order, and convince them to assist us, and if we can find the means to bring Light from the Tower in Lakeland to this place, and channel it into Sarah, Luciane and Ryne... and possibly whoever else might be capable... this plan may work_.”

“A lot of ifs, but not too unworkable. I would be more concerned with ensuring the safety of the three umbral casters.” G’raha motioned to Sarah, Luciane and Ryne.

“Between Sarah and Luciane, Azem’s power, such as it exists at present, provides enough potential control. But others may still be needed to help. The power involved will be immense, even for an Unsundered soul to continence.” Elidibus tapped the barrier with a clawed glove, dragging a finger down it and allowing sparks to fly off it as he did.

“We yet have time to figure that quandary and aught else out, I’m sure. We can have Feo and the other pixies reach over to the Source and tell us of tidings there, tell the others of our predicament. See if they can help us too.” Sarah gestured to Feo, hovering nearby her.

“Of course my dear, we will go straightaway to offer such words and seek news of happenings on the Source for you. Try not to worry too much. We will find a way to help!”

They turned to the others.

“Would your friends like help returning to the surface?”

Cyella and Unukalhai both stepped forward.

“If it’s alright with you, Unukalhai and I have decided to try and take residence in one of the buildings of the city outside the barrier. See if we can help with the research and keep an eye on things on this side. We want for less than others, given our nature, and for whatever we do need we can go to the Ondo, and perhaps even Eulmore.”

The boy nodded, smiling over at Elidibus.

“We may not be compelled quite so much as we once were to aid the Ascians in their cause, but this time the cause is different, and so are we. I would help as a friend.”

Cyella smiled and nodded.

“And it’s the least we can do for the Warrior of Darkness and her friends, old and new. They’ll probably go stir crazy in there otherwise without others around to talk to, even if it is through a giant shield.”

The ones inside the barrier nodded, some smiling back. Sarah spoke in response.

“I appreciate it you two, truly. Don’t feel obligated to linger overlong though. We can’t do much to help from this side.”

The others outside the barrier now spoke, starting with Beq Lugg.

“I shall remain as well, to continue my studying of the barrier. I also need very little to sustain myself, and find this creation and the city beyond it to be quite fascinating in their own rights. All awkwardness and trouble aside, I should be delighted to know more about both.”

Ryne and Gaia looked at one another before looking at the pixies.

“We’ll head back to the Crystarium with Lyna for now, if it’s alright. She’ll need help explaining all of this to Eulmore and the Crystarium’s people, and we can go and let the Night’s Blessed and the others in Rak’tika know what’s going on as well.”

“They’ll be happy to offer help too, I’m sure of it. Ronka probably has some fancy spell or relic that could prove useful, right?”

Lyna looked over to them before once more looking at G’raha.

“My lord, I will do my best to explain... all of this to the others and assure them of your present condition.”

He smiled at her.

“Please Lyna, no need to be so formal all the time with me. I am no longer your Exarch in full, having fulfilled my former life’s purpose. I am simply G’raha now, and act as a Scion alongside Sarah and her friends.”

He placed his hand upon the barrier again, looking down at the ground for a moment before turning his gaze back to her.

“I will do my best to make amends for my hasty exit when we are free of this place, but I am not planning on resuming my stewardship of the city. So there is no longer much need to call me lord of anything.”

She smiled and shook her head at him.

“It is quite alright my lord... G’raha Tia. You will always be our Exarch, even if you have need to travel elsewhere with the Warrior and these others. We will welcome you home with open arms, and with no need for too much apology.” She laughed a bit.

“Though I suspect some will be eager to get your input on our future plans to create a government. Something the Citizen’s Council is already discussing.”

He smiled again, a bit wider now, and nodded.

“I would be glad to, as an equal. A home away from home deserving of proper guidance, ever in the hands of her people and her hopes.”

She nodded back, a little teary eyed again.

“I’m glad you were able to come home.”

She turned to the pixie now.

“Take the three of us back then. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

She looked once more at the Exarch before the pixies began their magic once more and teleported them away. Ryne and Gaia waved goodbye as well, smiling over at Sarah and the others. Gaia called out once more to the Ascians as she went.

“You better keep that promise to introduce me to him once we’re out of her, Hades!”

Hades smiled and nodded at her.

“ _I would never dream of keeping the lovebirds apart. I am most interested in seeing his reaction to your experiences with his former holder, and to your friend there the Oracle. Do keep up the entertainment, yes_?”

She threw him a smirk as her face dissolved into white flashing light, and then the three of them were gone.

Feo Ul turned once more to Sarah.

“We’ll manage to keep everyone in the know, and let Urianger and Krile know first what’s happened. I’ll stop by regularly to keep you all aware as well, promise.”

“Thank you, isne fish. [beautiful branch.]”

They hugged one another briefly, before the pixie flew up into the air, spinning a bit.

“Ah it is a lovely thing to see your soul so bright and surrounded by such lovely lights, my sune yak! [adorable sapling!] I very much look forward to seeing how all of this ends!”

“ _Hopefully better than last time_.” Hades folded his arms while looking up at the pixie.

“A full moon beckons all of you hither. I wonder what awaits you on its far edge?”

The pixie cackled a loud laugh a bit, before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving them all to regard their cryptic statement with furrowed expressions.

“What do you suppose that meant Sarah?” Luciane had a hand to her chin in mild confusion.

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see. Feo often makes prophetic comments like that to amuse themselves at my expense. I often look back on them fondly, to remember them.”

She shook her head.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the moon. Maybe I should ask them to take me?”

Elidibus shuffled off a bit suddenly at this comment, hood drawn down over his face as he walked. He called back to her.

“Pray be prepared for what you find there, Azem. It is a place that is not meant for just anyone to see.”

She looked at him quizzically before turning to Hades.

“What’s he mean by that?”

He scoffed at her.

“ _It is a bit of a long story. I will try to explain later. For the moment, I suggest we take a meal and plan out how to make the most of this predicament_.”

G’raha nodded.

“A nice meal does sound like a good idea right now. These subjects weigh heavy, but will weigh less so in good company... or less than good company.”

The two men looked at one another, faces unreadable, as Sarah interjected.

“I say we head back to my apartment and figure out said meal, then we can chat about what to do with our time here.”

They nodded at her.

“ _By all means my dear. Lead the way_.”

She took them both by the hand and led them off, grinning and seemingly enjoying the way they both looked at her in this moment, perplexed. She fairly skipped along the walkway in sudden bemusement, eager to see what she could coax from both within this city of memory.

Elidibus looked on and shrugged.

“As close to the real thing as one can find in this dismal place. Very well.”

He began to walk on behind them, now followed by Luciane and Y’shtola after they briefly said goodbye to the other three remaining beyond the barrier. Cyella looked after them as they went, lingering her gaze longest on Luciane, lost in thought and the dimmest hint of familiarity.

Beq Lugg, Cyella and Unukalhai soon departed to the nearest spire and found rooms suitable for occupation. With some effort, Hades was able to coax a shade or two into existence beyond the barrier through the aether, and offered them as assistants to those outside.

After a while, a makeshift home was made for both groups, with the latter now dwelling in Sarah’s apartment, the place Persephone had lived prior to moving into the Convocation’s suites and dwelling with Hades in the distant past. Though comforts were sometimes sparing in this recreation of Amaurot, they did not want for assistance or conversation, and began to settle in for a long stay.

***

Lyna, Ryne and Gaia returned to the surface and spent the next few days communicating to everyone in Norvrandt, high and low, of what had happened. At least in the broad strokes, though leaving out a few details to avoid causing too much shock and awe when what was needed were cool heads and sensible ideas. Lyna in particular was fairly knocked flat by the rapturous reaction to the news of the Exarch’s successful return to the Source and his roundabout return to the First.

Runar and the Night’s Blessed, when speaking to the girls, were just as jubilant at Sarah and Y’shtola’s return, and eager to help. Several of their number in particular were eager to learn of Amaurot as well, and see this shining city in the darkness of the sea’s bottom for themselves. The Viis of Ronka and the Qitari were also eager to assist in their own ways and learn more of this situation.

Eulmore’s reaction was more measured, focused as they were on overcoming their own long dormancy and getting the space around the city cleaned up and productive once more. But the Chais and the others in the city who held a measure of sway and useful skills volunteered eagerly to do what they could, most specifically in ferrying goods to those staying camped on the ocean floor by way of the Ondo, who also volunteered to help.

The Ondo approached the city now slowly and with reverence, bearing offerings for it in equal measure with the foodstuffs and sundries they brought from Eulmore to Cyella and Unukalhai. The two of them bore witness to a long ritual of respect paid to Amaurot by way of these people, who had long lived in close proximity to the city’s physical remnants. For them, this place was a land of the gods, and they intended to give it a due moment of honour, before slinking back into the shadows of their home above on the ocean shelf.

For those on the Source, the response was mildly more panicked. Urianger, Krile and Feo made their way to the Stones, and communicated to all the Scions near and far over time the situation. Matoya for her part offered to help as she was able, and even suggested that an aetheric ram akin to those used on Azys Lla might once more prove beneficent. Assuming one could be constructed on the First of course. The pixie duly passed this information on to Sarah, and it too became a consideration of the plan.

All the while, the eyes of the Scions and the Alliance remained fixed on the Empire, and the growing civil war both within Garlemald itself and the provinces. Rebellions were increasing, most fiercely in Bozja, Dalmasca and Nagxia. Ilsabard as a whole was beginning to reel under the weight of the many legions, taking sides in the conflict now forming across the continent. Werlyt and the border to Eorzea remained tightly guarded across every ilm of soil.

Battle lines were being drawn. Ancient secrets were beginning to see the light of day once more. Stories of Sarah’s discoveries and strange alliances and travels were becoming more commonplace by the day, spreading from Ishgard and Revenant’s Toll to the far corners of the world along the grapevine, even reaching as far as Radz-at-Han, in distant Thavnair. Lord Hien and the Domans first learned of recent events from such rumours, and had them confirmed via Tataru and Hancock.

These were strange and dangerous days indeed, to find strange allies and strange enemies arrayed in equal measure, the lord of Doma thought to himself as he gazed up at the moon far above the enclave in thought. He hoped his friends, in all the places they were, however far away, remained safe, and that he would live to see them again under a blue sky.

Sarah thought much the same as she gazed up at the churning cyan sky of the ocean surface, still visible under the barrier. The whole world was talking about her actions, and was bracing for the coming deluge being even now prepared by her old ‘friends’ in Garlemald. A fire now burned within her to set all of this right.

Not just for herself or for him. Or for any of those who now walked alongside her. But for everyone.

This had all gone on long enough. This long war of ignorance and sin and broken wills needed to end.

Whatever the cost, this all needed to end. And a new world needed to be borne out. She only wondered now upon the nature of it, and what form it would take.

And most of all, why she could already begin to feel the light of the moon on her skin, even down here in the abyss. Zodiark? Or something else? Only time would tell.

Only one thing was certain now. She knew herself and her place in the world again, better than she ever had before. She felt freer to act. And now she would.

For weal or woe. For the Star. For the people. And for her friends and loved ones. To show them all the value of this future they had helped to win for her. And that she now embraced, to guide them all home.

To shepherd them home. Whatever form it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Specific format note for this piece: I translated and played around with a little bit of the fae speech of the Il Mheg pixies, based off of Exarch, Feo and Bismarck dialogue from the game. Just to clarify some of Sarah and Feo's words here.
> 
> The main series will likely be on hold for a bit, at least in terms of forward progression from this moment. I intend to explore the relationship between all the characters currently present in Amaurot and those immediately near to them outside the barrier (Cyella and Unukalhai) relative to one another going forward. Establish relationship dynamics, delve into Amaurot more, search for nuance both in their interactions and in how they intend to escape this predicament, escape the First back to the Source, and most crucially handle the coming oblivion being prepared by Fandaniel and Zenos.
> 
> Endwalker, as well as the coming final patches of Shadowbringers, will likely provide me with the context and ideas I need to progress the story beyond this moment in the future towards these possible outcomes. I wanted to use Circle as a bridge of sorts, to allow for topics of interest to be developed by also to ensure I can progress into Endwalker inspired stories for my series when the time comes and more information is known to us. In that sense, I'll be focused more on other works and one shots for the time being, when I can find time to do more fanfic writing.
> 
> As a final note; I am still musing on the subject of G'raha and Elidibus' ancient names. I may or may not keep them, and so I did not use them as much in this chapter. I will keep them for now though, and consider what to do with them going forward when I do series fics for both of them relative to Sarah, Hades and Ariadne/Luciane. I have a lot of plans for the six principal characters, Sarah and her ships, and want to give each due attention. That will include the nature of these two and their 'true' ancient names.

**Author's Note:**

> This is definitely my first real attempt to break away more completely from the main story canon as currently, chronologically and narratively, presented in FFXIV. Giving characters ancient names and heritages, taking them on long roundabout journeys both for fun and for more serious purposes, digging into the lore on one hand and then dragging Hades in another breath, the works. 
> 
> Stuff that I find compelling, and that I want to explore and think about and have fun with. The essence of fanfiction, in short.
> 
> I hope, as always, to craft things worth people's time and eyeballs, even as I strive to create something that is, in essence, a selfish endeavour. To create a work that is all my own, and explore the genuine love I have for these varied characters and this world, and especially for the character of Emet-Selch, our much loved rat bastard emperor and sensitive soul. For his memory especially, I am glad to write a thousand books, even if in the end they end up just being for me. But I am very happy as ever if others enjoy this work, and I appreciate your time.


End file.
